EMPIRE has released their upcoming issue's cover and screenshots from WATCHMEN. If the film is already getting so much press and promotion, I wonder how it's going to be come January and February. I mean, not even DARK KNIGHT had these exclusives eight months before its release. As much as I love WATCHMEN, I also very much understand they way Alan Moore feels about the whole film situation. I guess I'm glad millions more people will be brought into the world of WATCHMEN and can appreciate the novel but at the same time, I really beg all of those people to read the novel before watching the film. I'm sure this will only make you appreciate the film even more. But there are plenty of amazing novels that have been adapted and are being adapted to the screen with just as many fans that feel the same way before they watch the film version of their novels, right?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
High-res WATCHMEN screenshots and EMPIRE cover
Update: new high resolution WATCHMEN posters !!
The Con brought us some great things this year and some not so impressive things as well but of the former are these new character posters from WATCHMEN. They all look incredible and thanks to IGN and Omelete, we the public outside of Comic-Con can enjoy them and here they are in no particular order. Note the WATCHMEN art style that they are preserving from the novel, I'm liking that. Also, the quotes above are enveloping and especially important if you are not familiar with the novel. By the way, the pin-up at towards the end was released before the Con but I figure it's great enough to put up again now, wouldn't you agree?
WHAT JUST HAPPENED? trailer
This is a fun one. Rob DeNiro, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, written and directed by Art Linson and Barry Levinson. Unlike many critics and reviewers out there, I think the trailer actually does look funny and I do want to watch it. It was received poorly at Sundance and has been having trouble since but I have hope, kinda. Check out the trailer below.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Is it wrong for me to enjoy SEX DRIVE? Nope, because it's probably based on true events, and there's no bending the truth there
TERMINATOR and TWILIGHT posters from Comic-Con
Maybe you're like me and like posters of shot up Terminators for TERMINATOR SALVATION, or maybe you're still like me and like posters of Bella and Edward for TWILIGHT. Either way, click on them to enlarge, then go print out 4-foot copies of them from Kinko's and plaster them around your room/dungeon/home base.
Ever wonder if HEROES and WATCHMEN could join forces? No? Me neither, but watch this glorified ad for the show
How frakin' cool is this. It's HEROES footage slotted into the WATCHMEN trailer which ultimately culminates into the final message of the video, "WATCH HEROES." Enjoy.
Monday, July 28, 2008
I've seen the Comic-Con footage of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE and it's...
...bland. No joke. The footage is leaked by someone who attended the con and is fairly poor quality even if the fanboys and girls weren't all screaming their teeth off. Here, watch it first, then I'll talk about it.
PART 2
So there. To me, it doesn't seem any different than the PUNISHER sequel coming out later this year, or even McG's CHARLIE'S ANGELS films (and McG is actually directing the new TERMINATOR SALVATION). Since it is a Marvel production I'm sure that it'll have everything the fans want but it just looks like cheese, highly entertaining cheese, but still. Maybe I'm asking too much. I don't know, other than getting another cool X-Men film, it just seems generic (refer to the scene in the trailer with Logan walking away from a huge explosion behind him on the road; seems all to much like the scene in X-MEN3 with Wolverine standing on the battlefield smoking a cigar with a large explosion behind him). No, I don't think THE DARK KNIGHT has spoiled me but we are in a time when realism is a factor, a large factor. I'd say IRON MAN pulled off the realism and Favreau made a very entertaining film, but he didn't have much of a style; he created a film that was also fairly generic and appealed to everyone.
WOLVERINE is still about a year away and again, "you can't judge a book by its Comic-Con footage a year from its release." Just like those of us that didn't much enjoy the TERMINATOR teaser in front of TDK, at the Con, apparently, TERMINATOR made a very large splash and took skeptics by surprise and impressed many. So, stay tuned as info is still coming from Comic-Con.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Review: STEP BROTHERS
Aside from this site, I also sometimes write short movie reviews in the Friday Extra section of the Tampa Tribune here where I live. I have been writing these for about a year now but I never really felt like boasting that, well I'm doing it now. This past week, a couple of my fellow reviews and I got to watch Will Ferrell and John C. Riley's new family comedy, STEP BROTHERS. Written by ANCHORMAN scribe Adam McKay and Ferrell, this is by far their most vulgar comedy yet. Let me start off by copying over my short Tampa Tribune review which you can also find over here at the Tampa Bay Online website.
What I Liked: What’s better than two grown men acting like 10-year-olds? Will Ferrell and John C. Riley acting like 10-year-olds. If you watched the last few Ferrell films and asked yourself where all the funny went, perhaps he was just saving it for this. Writer and Ferrell’s BFF Adam McKay have worked together on such classics as ‘’Anchorman,’’ ‘’Talladega Nights’’ and many ‘’Saturday Night Live’’ sketches.
Now, despite the gratuitous language, they’ve finally made a film that goes back to their roots and resurrects the energy they once had during the days of SNL. I’m sure many people will agree with me, but rather than a Ferrell fan, I’m more of a J.C. Riley one. And he’s always entertaining to watch (’’Walk Hard’’ ).
What I Disliked: There are a few points that people may not find very entertaining about this film. Yes, this is an extremely R-rated film, so please don’t take yours or your neighbor’s children for a fun weekday afternoon movie; I think they may be better off watching ‘’The Dark Knight.’’ Second, if you have in fact enjoyed Ferrell’s last few, like ‘’Semi-Pro,’’ don’t expect this to be quite so massive. ‘’Step Brothers’’ is a simple film about two very simple boys and their parents. Lastly, what really did get to me was the language. I know the writer was trying to express the childishness of these two men, but honestly it seemed a little much. You decide.
Would I Recommend? Though it does feel as if the Ferrell train is losing steam, much like his SNL comrades of the past decades, I think this one extends his half-life at least until he makes another ‘’Bewitched.’’ Perhaps he should take the dramatic route for the next few films if there is anything we can learn from Adam Sandler’s career.
Score: 7 out of 10
- Nizar Babul
For Ferrell, I believe this is a step in a better direction. Personally, I'm sick of him always playing the same damn character. This macho, pompous, self indulged ass who we must sympathize with by the end of the film. I don't always buy it. What I can buy him as is a 40 year-old man-child who still has trouble socializing with people and lives in the shadow of his younger brother. Although the film is less encompassing in its content and message, it is however a better film than his past few.
Another bit I liked about this one were the side and secondary characters. I loved Richard Jenkins in THE VISITOR earlier this year but not so much in this because I felt he brought too much spunk to the father character. Ferrell's younger sister-in-law played by Kathryn Hahn; as over the top as she may seem, really scenes really are among some of the funniest and most of her lines were improvised, kudos. Ferrell's brother in the film, played by Adam Scott also knew how to bring the fun while playing an obnoxious prick.
I say, go check STEP BROTHERS this week in theaters with some friends or a date and let it be the appetizer for the next month and a half of awesome comedy entrees which include PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, TROPIC THUNDER, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, THE ROCKER and HAMLET 2.
