Check out The Rock, painted up all snazzy like for Halloween as none other than one of The Avengers himself… The Incredible Hulk! Raise your hand if you would have rather seen this version of The Hulk than that one thing with Eric Bana in that one movie… Happy Halloween!
Whats up all you Cinema Recon-ites! Its been a long and busy summer and you may have noticed that Paul and I slowed down a bit… (I know I know, how selfish of us for wanting to enjoy our summer) but what better way to make a comeback than to bring you the trailer everyone has been waiting for (how ever long Paul has been waiting for it, I have been waiting one day longer… no big deal), the first Marvel movie after the huge success of The Avengers… that’s right folks, I’m talking about the brand spankin’ new trailer for Iron Man 3 directed by Shane Black!!!
There have been some set photos and some rumblings here on the inter-web about Iron Man 3, personally I am starting to lean more towards just waiting for the first trailer before jumping to any huge preconceived thoughts on the film, just mainly because so much of what you read and see on the internet can be out of context or have no credibility, or just the ramblings of some guy who thinks he knows movies and happens to have a laptop and internet access (hey, I’m a guy like me!).
But this trailer surprised everyone a little bit I think. They definitely Nolan-ized it with the third installment in the Iron Man franchise, making it “darker and grittier” a phrase I am growing to dislike very quickly, I can see Iron Man 4 now, advertised like a cheap cereal… “Now with 20% more grittier!!!” I think most people knew it was going to be a bit darker and more serious, but I think this trailer in particular goes a little further than expected. Plus, its got the awesome pseudo-dub step which is becoming a “must-have” in all of today’s cool kid movies… you ain’t cool unless your steppin’ in dub, at least that’s what my grand pappy use to say.
Personally, I think this looks bad ass. I am sure it will still have that sparkle that can only come from Robert Downey Jr., and his quips, but it looks like its going to have some more serious, kind of profound questions as well in regards to who Tony Stark and Iron Man really is, and what can and can’t he do, and his limitations and all that good stuff. My one and only concern at this point is the overuse of the Iron Man suit. We do see a clip of another type of Iron Man suit (that I am going to call Captain Iron America Man, copyright 2012 Jake). I am not sure if this is something that will be used against him or maybe on his side as something else that James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) can suit up in… but I know that one of the main flaws with Iron Man 2 for me, was just too many damn robots. Its like hey, if one Iron Man is cool, a thousand Iron Mans (Iron Men?) must be a thousand times cooler!!! Yeah… well, no.
For every other character like that you add on the screen is just that much more CGI that you have to throw in there and for me, I don’t care for CGI in mass quantities like that. So I hope that this doesn’t end up in another type of chase scene between two Iron Mans where they are flying through the city and blowing everything up again, because we saw that in Iron Man 2 and it didn’t work so well. Stick to the characters, that is what made Iron Man so awesome in the first one. A lovable yet flawed Tony Stark, an ominous and love-to-hate Obadiah Stane, and least we forget… Agent Coulson. And speaking of characters, we don’t get too see all that much of him but I am definitely looking forward to Ben Kingsley in the role of the Mandarin, Kingsley is the man so I have high hopes on this one. Give us great characters, and a compelling story and that will drive the movie. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you have helicopters with machine guns.
Here you go, the first trailer for Iron Man 3, Let us know what you think in the comments!!!
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!!!
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.
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.
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.
What’s up Cinema Recon-ites!? Hows it hangin’? I was thinking today about some articles I wanted to write, and holy hell! Has it really been that long since I threw up an article!? Seems like just yesterday I was talking about The Expendables 2 trailer exploding all over your face, but now that I think about it – not including our regular podcasts – that was over a month ago! Its amazing what happens to all my free time to write once summer starts rolling around. I’ve been a tad bit busy to say the least – a couple camping trips where we got snowed on, fishing trips where all I caught was a good buzz, river rafting trip where I caught a nice sunburn, toured the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and almost got kicked out, a couple baseball games and a whole helluva lot of beers later and here I am slacking on my writing responsibilities to you, the reader! (hi mom)
But fear not, I have all the time in the world to write today thanks to the lovely folks at Clarke Pest Control who are fumigating our apartment complex for termites. We had to pack up all our shit and will be staying at the lovely Extended Stay America for the next three days. At first I thought Cassie said we were staying at Extended Steak America, and immediately thought we were staying at some sort of super awesome hotel that serves you steak and eggs for breakfast, steak sandwiches for lunch, and fish sticks for dinner (come on now, you can’t eat steak three times a day). Anyways, we went to the A’s game yesterday then came home and had to pack up our whole damn place. “So what?” you might think. Yeah, not that bad, except have you ever tried to move the contents of a 16 gallon fish tank to the second floor hotel room of an Extended Stay America? Yeah I didn’t think so! So shut it! Sorry, I didn’t mean that I am just a little testy since I pretty much didn’t sleep at all. The freaking bed sheets are like cardboard wrapped in god damn sandpaper at this place, its like sleeping between two belt sanders. But the good news is at least the shower drains properly, oh wait… right, it doesn’t. Nothing gives you that clean morning shower feeling like 4″ of standing water at the bottom of a hotel room shower. God only knows what exists beyond that drain…
But the reason I have time to write today, isn’t because of our fabulous hotel makes it such a serene environment to write, its because of moving a bunch of damn fish into a hotel, the limestone-like bed sheets, the bath/shower combo, and yes most likely having a couple too many $8 beers at the game yesterday… but I took today off!! Yesterday wore me the hell out and since I basically didn’t sleep at all, I just needed to relax today. Bad for my employer, good for you! So I’m hoping to get out a couple articles that I have been wanting to write. So sit back, grab a cold one, and stare at your computer until I write these articles!
[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.
In case you have been living under a rock that is wedged between two larger rocks and you don’t have internet access beneath said rock, The Avengers has officially released in the US today. Already taking in $300+ million worldwide and having received rave reviews, it is safe to say this movie will set a few records. If there was ever any doubts, they can be put to rest now: The Avengers is already a success.
Cinema Recon will be seeing the behemoth superhero adventure tonight at the AMC Van Ness in San Francisco. It’s not a question of if you’ll see it, so I’ll ask, when are you going to catch it? Did anyone go to the early showings? Tell us what you thought!
Hey, has anyone seen Spidey or Wolv…oh, right
It is finally here, what all red blooded males (and Paul) have been waiting for… the full length trailer for Expendables 2! Or as I like to call it Explosion: THE MOVIE! Finally, after bickering about ratings with Chuck Norris and between old ass action dudes drinking their Chocolate Raspberry Ensure and doing their water-aerobics and the local YMCA, they have managed to produced a full length trailer for Expendables 2! Hell Yeah! (queue explosion)…
I really kind of rip on the first Expendables because I think it fell so damn short of what everyone was expecting. Lots of quick cuts on the action scenes (but I guess what do you expect when all your stars are pushing 60… and walkers), the whole movie was really dark it was hard to see what the hell was going on, and it just didn’t deliver on making a movie as bad ass as the combined bad-assedness of all its stars. So needless to say, when we first heard about Explosion: THE MOVIE, I was skeptical. Then the big debate over the ratings started and it was reported that Expendables 2 would be PG-13, or else Chuck Norris would throw a temper tantrum, and most likely some uppercuts. I told Paul, the only way Expendables 2 could be any worse than the first Expendables was if they really do make this PG-13! But they have since went back and forth on the rating and word on the internet streets is that they have landed on an R rating however I don’t believe anything is official yet.
So with all that going on, I was far from being excited for the Expendables sequel. Sure, we will go see it (we do it for you! You see what you make us do!?) but I was already thinking it was going to be more of the same. Then I watch the trailer, and what can I say… I’m in! hahah! I don’t know what it is I must just be a sucker for giant explosions, crushing cars with tanks, mercenaries riding zip lines, motorcycles jumping off ramps into flying helicopters, wearing awesome sunglasses, dressing like a monk, and smart cars… (hey, they are good for the environment). But something about it was awesome enough to where I think it will be a good time all over again… even if it is a bad time all over again (which it most likely will be).
But the trailer scores high enough on my explosion meter, the Explometer© (Pronounced – EX, PLOM, E, TER) to make me fall for this whole thing all over again, and just gets me all giddy for a good old mindless action movie. So even if Expendables 2 sucks as bad as the first, I’m definitely lining up at the theater with the same enthusiasm as I had when this all started. Check out the trailer below and try to tell me you won’t be doing the same!? The Expendables 2 is set to open August 17th, 2012 in the United States of Awesome Explosions. Oh, and in case you are wondering, it scored an 8 on the Explometer©.
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