Category Archives: News

First Trailer for MAN OF STEEL!!!

First off, in case you live under a rock, or you like Justin Bieber, you probably don’t know that Man of Steel is a moniker for Superman. So lets just go ahead and clear that up right away. Got it? Man Of Steel = Superman. OK? Check.

ANYWAYS… The first trailer is up for Man Of Steel, the new re-boot-imagining of the Superman franchise, directed by Zack Snyder, and produced by none other than the main man himself, Christopher Nolan, because… gritty. We saw a teaser trailer a couple weeks ago and I thought it looked freaking awesome. As much of a cliche it is these days, it really did seem like a “real” and “serious” telling of the Superman origin and story. The first trailer below gives us a bit more of a look into that world. And I don’t know why, but it brings down my expectations just slightly.

Maybe it is just because I am still pissed off that I wasted my time with that horrible Spiderman re-boot, but to me I kind of get the feeling (again) of “didn’t I just see this?” But other than that, the way they are presenting the film looks entirely different and I can get on board with that. The special effects look pretty bad ass, however if you listen to the show at all you know that I am not a huge proponent of mass quantities of CGI, so I really hope they don’t over do it (Suckerpunch I am looking at you), but they will. Guaranteed. Also, is it just me, or did the part where  Superman is shirtless and walking through fire look like horribly bad CGI? I’m talking like The Darkest Hour bad… ouch.

Michael Shannon definitely looks the part of a pretty ruthless General Zod, but we don’t really get to see much of him here, so I’ll wait for the second trailer to pass judgement on him. And judgement I will pass!

I do like how you can see the physical representation of Superman’s powers, in the scene where he is getting ready to take off, and slamming into the bank vault causing a huge dent, rather than just see him using his powers to fly really fast or laser-beam-eye a Hot Pocket. However, I think there is definitely room for this movie to take a turn for the worse. If you look at Snyder’s track record, its pretty much a shot in the dark. Not that he has made the worst movies really, but still… for every Dawn of the Dead, you have a Suckerpunch. For every Watchmen you have Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. Then there is 300, which a lot of people kind of thought was over the top, but I thought was pretty unique and bad ass for what it was. So, I am not saying that the new Superman movie is going to have cartoon owls, or giant Blue Man Group dudes walking around with their junk swingin’ in your face either. But hopefully we can get a real character driven Superman movie that uses CGI to enhance the story instead of tell it. By the way, anyone else notice that Clark wasn’t wearing any glasses? Hmm, must have gotten Lasik. Would they need a Kryptonite laser for that? Just curious…

Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy AdamsRussell Crowe, and Michael Shannon and is scheduled to take off (get it?) June 14th 2013. Let us know what you think of the trailer in the comments! Especially the cheesy, “Me Clark, me walk through FIRE!” part.

 


First Trailer for World War Z!!!

Well, after the push backs, the re-writes and the weird rumors about Brad Pitt sleeping in cemeteries (he is such a method actor) to get closer to his role dealing with dead people, its finally here! OK, so maybe I was making up the bit about Brad Pitt sleeping in cemeteries, but I am not making up the fact that the first trailer is out for the Marc Forster film World War Z!!!

This one has been an interesting ride. The film hit a huge roadblock, or at least it seemed that way, when they had to bring in some other writers to help shore up its third act apparently. After watching the trailer though, I think its easy to see how this film could still go terribly wrong, in so many ways. First being, Brad Pitt was in no way not even slightly pissed off when that police officer broke his side view mirror on his car!!! COME ON!!! That would NEVER happen in real life!!!

My first thoughts when watching the trailer, are it almost seems like this was going to be in the same style and light as the Steven Soderbergh flick Contagion, where the movie kind of takes the issue at hand and looks at the more political and social implications of it. Now that I think of it, it kid of looks like World War Z is Contagion meets I am Legend… Yeah, that’s definitely what this is for sure. I am going to call this movie… I Am Contagend. (copyright 2012 Jake from Cinema Recon).

I’m not sure what to think about this one actually… I think I Am Contagend  will do well because Brad Pitt hasn’t done an action type movie for a while, so that will get a good draw. And lets not forget the fact that EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHERS ARE FUCKING OBSESSED WITH ZOMBIES FOR SOME REASON THAT IS KNOWN TO ABSOLUTELY NOBODY. So… there is that too. But I think the movie will be decent at best. Especially with a name like I Am Contagend… that’s just weird isn’t it? They should have went with a different name like Civil War Zombies, Zombie Revolution, or Robopocalypse… Yeah! Robopocalypse that’s a good one!!! Lets use that!!!

Check out the trailer below for I Am Robopocagend and let us know what you think in the comments!


Disney Buys Lucasfilm!

Well, amidst hurricanes and landslides, Disney has ponied up over $4 BILLION and purchased The Star Wars Co. (Lucasfilm).   Collider reports that the mega-company has just become a mega-mega-ginormous-company.

And not wasting any time, Disney went ahead and announced that they will release EPISODE 7 IN 2015!  The entire thing is mind-blowing enough, in the fact that Disney outright bought Lucasfilm … but then, without waiting for their giant platinum diamond encrusted credit card to cool off, Disney announces A NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY!  Holy Hell.

Think of the possibilities!  A new Star Wars trilogy WITHOUT George Lucas.  Even MORE Star Wars merchandise that nobody wants!  And most certainly we can put away our fan fiction with the inevitable official crossovers!  Hulk-on-Wookie action is no longer an “if”.  It’s a “when”.

Who will Disney buy next?  Only a few more companies and they will be able to erect their very own $852 Quadrillion Death Star.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooold!


AVENGERS Gag Reel is Superhero-larious!

The Internets were all lit up this morning when I went to check the various movie news sites, with a new gag reel from none other than the Mega-Blockbuster Marvel Movie The AVENGERS!!!

I think gag reels are awesome. It’s a great way to show the fun side of film making, and also to get a glimpse into some “behind the scenes” type situations, like Captain America not being able to pull on his parachute!

Check out the gag reel below courtesy of DailyMotion.com. I did notice some sites were already taking this down however so watch it while you can!

Also, you can listen to the Cinema Recon review of The Avengers here on Episode 05/13/12!!!


First Trailer for The Last Stand!

Ahhhh… smell that? It’s the smell of a good old action movie kicking down your door, delivering a cheesy one liner, and making shit go ‘splode!!! That’s right kiddies, it’s the first trailer for The Last Stand featuring the much anticipated return of everyone’s favorite action star, maid-banger, and former governor… Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Arnold stars as Ray Owens, sheriff of a quiet little border town called Sommerton Junction, where he has come to retire/get away from all the violence after leaving the LAPD due to a botched operation that left his partner crippled. But hold the bingo! Arnold can’t sit back and knit a lovely sweater for his illegitimate son just yet! The most notorious and wanted drug lord in all of the western hemisphere has escaped and is barreling towards Sommerton Junction in a “specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1” at 250mph, and Arnold and team must stop him at all costs before he makes it to Mexico!

I am actually really stoked for this movie. US directorial debut director Kim Jee-Woon looks like he has what it takes for a good ol’ fashion American action movie, and seems like he knows how to handle a good OLD fashion action star too. The trailer does a good job of blending some pretty sharp looking action pieces with some light hearted jokes that were always a staple of Arnolds movies, as well as backhanded humor in reference to Arnold as an iconic action star who is a bit past his prime. I talked about this briefly on the most recent podcast, how this generation really doesn’t have an action star, it’s a sad state of affairs really… So frankly speaking, I am excited for Arnold to come back and show all these wanna-be up-and-comer pretty boys how it’s done!

What I don’t get though, is why does the bad guy have to be the most notorious in the “western hemisphere?” I mean really? Why not just make him the most bad ass dude in the world? Why stop and say, “You know what this dude is pretty bad ass, but let’s make his bad assed-ness stop at the Prime Meridian. Beyond that, there are even MORE bad ass-ed dudes!!!” (Yeah so what, I had to Google Prime Meridian to remember what it was. What are you going to do about it!? You’re probably going to Google that one too right… about… now) Also, when did Johnny Knoxville become the go-to guy for a whacky half-red-neck half-idiot type sidekick for a sheriff/cop? Maybe it was just that one movie with The Rock and I always happen to catch it on FX or something, I don’t know I digress. Also, in all the write ups they keep mentioning this “specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1.” I really hope this is significant in some way (it won’t be), and isn’t just some giant plug for Chevy (it will be) because I won’t stand for it! (I probably will)

The Last Stand stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Genesis Rodriguez, Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzmán, and Forest Whitaker. Much to my dismay however, Forest Whitaker is some type of FBI dude, and not the bad guy as I predicted in my previous article here when I first heard about this movie. Check out the trailer for The Last Stand below:

In case you were wondering, my favorite part of the trailer is the non sequitur towards the end when Johnny Knoxville asks Arnold, “Man you look jacked, have you been workin’ out?” Then the scene cuts to Arnold blasting away at something with a shotgun. Umm, sure guy… sure, that’s a valid response to that question, why not.

The Last Stand is set to open January 18th, 2013.


Happy Dayz! Ron Howard to direct Jay-Z Doc

Our dear friends (who don’t actually know us) at CinemaBlend are reporting that director Ron Howard will make a Jay-Z documentary.  …Yup.

On the surface, that is the funniest headline I have read in a long time.  It doesn’t even need a joke, just read it out loud.  Let’s take the whitest McWhitey white guy in Hollywood and having him helm a documentary of the world’s greatest rapper!  I’m pretty sure I have slipped into some alternate, wacky dimension where I’ll turn on the TV and see Usain Bolt driving for Nascar or hear Lady Gaga on Bloomberg Radio.

After reading into the story further, however, it actually sounds like a pretty cool idea.  The documentary (a first for Ron Howard, hard to believe!) will center on Jay-Z’s upcoming music festival, Made in America.  Specifically we will follow Jay-Z and the difficulties of actually assembling something as large as a two-day music festival.  It also sounds as though the film will touch on Jay-Z as an icon and how he has appealed to several generations of music fans.  Brian Grazer told the New York Post:

“The festival showcases 20 pre-eminent artists that speak to the new generation. I am producing the film with Steve Stoute and Jay. Ron is directing. It is going to be born through Jay-Z’s perspective … how he puts the event together … Jay stayed the king for a very long time … I can’t even begin to explain how he is capable of remaining relevant. He is a phenom, like a musical Michael Jordan.”

It certainly won’t hurt to have a backdrop of popular artists, such as Pearl Jam, Drake, Skrillex, Mike Snow, Chris Cornell, and Run DMC, to name a few.  The full lineup for the Made in America festival can be found here.

I watch documentaries because I want to learn something about a subject I would otherwise know nothing about.  I personally am not a huge fan of Jay-Z’s genre of music, but that would make a documentary all the more interesting to me.

Still, if Ron Howard and Jay-Z are really going to collaborate, I think a goldmine could be had in a sitcom!  Howard and Mr. Z could find themselves as roommates in the big city!  Howard could unexpectedly bring his boss (special guest star Don Rickles) home for dinner, prompting Jay-Z to try cooking a fancy dinner, while still keeping ALF out of sight, who of course keeps chasing after their cat, Mr. Wrinkles!  Oh, and The Fonz is their landlord.

Or, you know, do the documentary thing.


Focus Features breaks their Eastern Promises!

As being reported by Collider, the once thought to be slated film Eastern Promises 2 is no more.  Focus Features has apparently pulled the plug on the sequel to 2007′s (you guessed it) Eastern Promises.

The film would have reunited director David Cronenberg and actor Viggo Mortensen, who worked together on the first film, as well as the recent A Dangerous Method.  (The two also worked together on the stellar A History of Violence…seriously, add that one to your queue)

When Viggo Mortensen was asked of his feelings on the abandoned project, he stated “A shame, a real shame.  I was really looking forward to giving audiences another full frontal nudity scene of yours truly.  A sad day in cinema, to be sure.”

(Viggo of course said nothing of the sort, but he did go full monty in Eastern Promises)

Eastern Promises 2 was scheduled to begin shooting in October.

Pants? Where we’re going we don’t need…pants


Celeste and Jesse Forever First Trailer

Back in January we did a show that was extremely advanced, it was light years ahead of its time, utilizing technology that most people could not even imagine in their wildest dreams. Many scientists to this day still hold that that show contained one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of our time, opening the doors for unlimited advancement in the areas of quantum physics, string theory, advanced spatial calculus, and communications. That’s right, in January I was in Park City Utah attending the Sundance Film Festival while Cinema Recon was in San Francisco, CA recording a show and they had their first LIVE caller… ME! That is right folks, using  advanced mathematics, special triangulation calculations, and a very long string attached to a very large tin can, I called in to Paul and Billy recording the show all the way from two states away! I know I know, the line between magic and science is blurring everyday!

While I was tens of thousands of miles away (ok, ok… 766 miles) on the other side of the world (ok, ok… Utah), I was mostly doing a lot of snowboarding and partying with a group of friends, BUT I was lucky enough to score a ticket to one film that was premiering titled Celeste and Jesse Forever. Starring  Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, the film follows two lifelong best friends who end up getting married… and then realize it’s not really right for them, and takes you through the trouble they have losing each other as a husband and wife, and also as a best friend. I thought the film was a giant breath of fresh air in an otherwise reboot/relaunch/rehash cinematic movie world that we live in. You can listen to my review live from Sundance here, on Episode 1/21/12. The film takes on some serious tones all while maintaining a realistic level of comedy that literally had me laughing out loud (that’s LOL’ing for you hip cool kids with your pants saggin’ around your bottoms) throughout the whole movie. I am really excited to see this again and see how it holds up, or if all the Sundance hype altered my feelings about this movie.

Everybody in this film is terrific – Rashida Jones is awesome, Andy Samberg tries to downplay his goofiness but is still goofy and funny, co-writer Will McCormack has a fantastic and hilarious role as a stoner friend/drug dealer, and Elijah Wood as Rashida Jones’ gay, eccentric and over the top co-worker is awesome. After I saw the film at Sundance the full cast and crew came out to do some Q&A which was really cool. You can check out my footage of that here on our YouTube channel. Overall it’s a great cast that tells a serious and very funny story. It might be one of my top 5 movies this year actually (thanks to the huge disappointment of Prometheus, poop). The way this trailer is cut makes the movie look a bit too much like your standard romantic comedy/drama but that’s because I’ve already seen the movie and I know it’s much more than that. Check out the trailer below and let me know what you think! Celeste and Jesse Forever opens August 3rd.

Celeste and Jesse Forever Trailer


Nothing to See Here, People

I just wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that I do NOT have 6 new stills of Prometheus to share with you.

I also do not have a new picture of Bane as he glares forward with muffled rage.

There are no new character posters here for The Amazing Spider-man, and I certainly wouldn’t think you’d find an Instagram-style pic of Peter Parker…because that would be ridiculous.

You will also find nary an MIB3 featurette, extended Prometheus featurette, or new Snow White and the Huntsman movie clips.  All of that would just be excessive.

No, I think I’m just going to save the last 17% of these films that we haven’t seen for the theaters.  You’re welcome.


Prometheus Aliens Free to Drop F-Bombs!

[UPDATED 5/8/12]  Deadline is reporting that Fox has indeed confirmed the R rating for Prometheus.  This is an enormous risk for Fox.  Now we just need to show up, enjoy the hell out of this one, and send studio execs the message that an R rated summer blockbuster really can work.  …Its either that or we fall into another bleak decade of watered down PG-13 films that not even Die Hard or The Terminator could overcome.

[5/7/12]  20th Century Fox appears to agree with the rest of the planet and will not alter the content of Prometheus based upon the MPAA rating bestowed upon them.  We are basing this assumption on the surfacing of what appears to be a legitimate, early ticket stub for the highly anticipated film:

That right there, my friends, is a big fat R rating!  The ticket was scanned by IMDB user “dvonnesoneek” and subsequently the internets were alerted by comicbookmovie.com.

If this is truly the real deal, words cannot describe how happy this makes me.  While I understand that excessive violence and language does not a good movie make, I have always felt that the Alien franchise (or universe, or second removed cousins, or however else Ridley Scott wants to tie Prometheus to previous films) is one that deserves a serious, unaltered, adult tone.

We have seen what happens when a studio insists on being too much involved (Alien 3) and we have seen what happens when you take this content into the ticket-selling friendly realm of PG-13 (AvP).  A rated R Prometheus can only mean that Scott is being given the freedom to realize whatever vision he had for this film.

It would have been very easy to slap a PG-13 rating on this and bank on the extra ticket sales (especially considering the rumored hefty budget).  I applaud 20th Century Fox for having the testicular fortitude to make this decision, and will now block out the week surrounding June 8 in order to recover from my head exploding in anticipation.


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