In the strangely funny heart warming comedy Juno, Ellen Page (Hard Candy, X-Men: The Last Stand) plays Juno MacGuff, a high school junior who finds herself pregnant after a night of unprotected fun. Deciding to keep the baby and give it to a deserving couple (played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman in their second on-screen paring after The Kingdom), adolescent Juno must navigate the shoals of adulthood a few years too early.
Though Juno is in the same vein of the film Napoleon Dynamite, it never quite strays into the zaniness or absurdity of the later, which isn’t a bad thing.
Garnering much positive buzz since debuting last fall at several film festivals, Juno is well written, well acted and well directed in this film that skirts all sorts of taboo issues from teen sex to abortion to underage attraction yet somehow never crosses any lines of good taste. I kept waiting for Juno to drift into “Lifetime Movie of the Week” or ABC After School Special genera, but it never did. From beginning to end, Juno is a breath of fresh air.
By Bert Ehrmann
12/31/2007
The two disk special edition DVD of the movie Zodiac is due out Tuesday 1/8. Extras include: a commentary track, Zodiac Deciphered: An exhaustive behind-the-scenes documentary, The Visual Effects of Zodiac and more .
By Bert Ehrmann
12/31/2007
The fifth season of The Wire premiers on HBO next Sunday (1/6). From HBO:
By Bert Ehrmann
12/31/2007
The best film of 2007 was Children of Men. Bleak, dark and uncompromising, Children of Men presents a terrifying vision of a future where women have become infertile and, without any new births, mankind has slowly started the trek towards extinction. Enter apathetic Theo (Clive Owen) who gets more than he bargained for when hired to help smuggle a girl out of the U.K. Theo finds himself with the weight of humanity’s future on his shoulders when it turns out this girl carries the first pregnancy in over 18 years.
Continue reading this column on the best movies of 2007.
By Bert Ehrmann
12/28/2007
Another sequel that I am more than excited about is Hellboy 2. Sure the first film got mixed reviews but I find that there is nothing better than Ron Perlman throwing cars and blowing up stuff. Since Pan's Labyrinth Del Toro (director of first Hellboy) has become a sort of celebrity. The second installment of the Hellboy series looks amazing and hopefully will be more kick-ass.
ign.com has the trailer here
By Matt Alexander
12/23/2007
One of the biggest sequels to hit theaters next year the Dark Night looks to pick-up right where Batman Begins left off. When I heard that Heath Ledger was to portray the infamous Joker I had my doubts but after watching the trailer I am some what excited. The trailer doesn't give much plot details but who cares..... ITS THE JOKER BABY !
Why So Serious?
thedarkknight.com has the trailer here
By Matt Alexander
12/23/2007
The best show of the 2006-07 television season was the AMC series Mad Men. Set in the early 1960s after the boom of the 1950s but before the rise of the counter-culture later that decade, Mad Men shows us in so many ways that while the “good old days” might have been “good” for a segment of the population, it certainly wasn’t so good for everyone.
Continue reading this column on the best television shows of 2007.
By Bert Ehrmann
12/13/2007
Of course everyone has memories of sitting around with your friends playing Clue as a child. My games would always end up a huge fight on "who done it" to the point of a WWE Pay Per View match in my basement. My mom thought that I loved the game so much that she would one day rent me the motion picture. As a kid I loved this movie, mostly because it was based off of a board game and when you are a kid nothing else could be cooler. ( Well maybe a video game based movie but the Mario Bros. movie was god awful.) To this day I still watch Clue on a regular basis and as I have gotten older I have come to understand the film more than I did when I was little. And what a comedic masterpiece it is.
Six people; Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Col. Mustard (Martin Mull), Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren) and Mrs Peacock (Eileen Brennan), are invited to Hill House for dinner and for a little something else. Once they arrive, they meet Wadsworth (Tim Curry) the butler, soon their host, Mr. Boddy, arrives and they all get to know one another. They all learn that they all have one thing in common, they are all being blackmailed. They find out that Mr. Boddy is the person who is blackmailing them all. Mr. Boddy gives everyone a special weapon (the same weapons from the game) and tells everyone that they could just kill Wadsworth and they could all just leave and resume their lives of being blackmailed. When the lights go out someone kills Mr. Boddy and they find out the staff of the house are killed too, the movie's basis is to find out who the killer is and how.
The cast of this film is AMAZING ! Nothing can beat Tim Curry running around at the end of the movie explaining everything that has happend in the film to uncover the murderer. Or Michael McKean screaming through the whole movie that he didn't do it. The one-liners in the film are classic and the cast is funny throughout the whole film. The mansion they used in the film was so much like the game board that they even had secret passages between rooms. If you are a fan of murder/comedy films then go rent this movie today.
"Theres nobody."
"What do you mean?"
"Theres no body. Mr. Boddy's body its gone!"
By Matt Alexander
12/8/2007
The Wachowski brothers latest project ready for the theaters is a new millennium remake of the 1960's era anime Speed Racer . When I first found out about the film being made I was very excited and after watching the trailer I am hoping that this will not be another Rollerball massacre. Also I must say that I do not like Speed's helmet at all.
Moviefone.com has the trailer here
By Matt Alexander
12/8/2007
The best movie poster of 2007 was actually the whole campaign of posters for the movie Grindhouse. These Grindhouse posters perfectly hearken back to a simpler time when low-budget movie studios produced very few posters to promote their films. Back then, posters were folded and placed along with reels of film that were shipped cross-country for months, if not years, as the films the posters promoted played in one theater after theater.
Continue reading this column on the best posters of 2007.
By Bert Ehrmann
12/7/2007
TVShowsOnDVD.com has posted the covers for the upcoming Justice League: The New Frontier DVDs. There will be two editions of this DVD, one regular and one special edition, that will retail for between $20 and $25.
Justice League: The New Frontier is set to be released at the end of February.
By Bert Ehrmann
11/25/2007
Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition). Included across these five DVDs are the "final cut" version of Blade Runner (that is until the next final cut), "a feature-length authoritative documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this hugely influential cinema landmark," three other different versions of the film, along with several other featurettes and documentaries along with a lenticular card, an origami unicorn figure, a miniature replica spinner car as well as a snazzy brief-case to hold it all. Whew! That's a lot of stuff all for the low retail price of just $80.
By Bert Ehrmann
11/18/2007
With the last new episode of Battlestar Galactica having aired last March, SCI Fi channel is hopping to rekindle fan interest in the series by airing a sort of BSG “movie of the week” entitled Battlestar Galactica: Razor this Thanksgiving. BSG: Razor promises to shed light on the upcoming fourth season of the show while at the same time revealing what happened to the Battlestar Pegasus between the events of the mini-series and her eventual discovery at the middle of the second season of the series.
Continue reading this article on the movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor.
By Bert Ehrmann
11/16/2007
My new favorite page on all the Interwebs, "Waxing About Christmas Wish Books – 1985 Edition."
By Bert Ehrmann
11/14/2007
After a so-so summer movie season passed us by a few weeks back, what does this fall/winter movie season have in store for the viewing public? Unfortunately, out of the dozens of movies all set to open between now and next spring, only a few seem as if they hold much promise.
Continue reading this column on movies due out this fall and winter.
By Bert Ehrmann
11/3/2007
Sideshow Collectibles will be releasing a very nice diorama based on the creature from Alien 3. The piece retails for around $150 and is set to be released sometime early next year.
By Bert Ehrmann
10/31/2007
Diamond Select is releasing a bust of the Cylon from the TV series Battlestar Galactica. My guess is that it'll go great next to the other Cylon bust released
By Bert Ehrmann
10/30/2007
The full (and final?) trailer for the upcoming I Am Legend movie has been released. It's cool, but I have some concerns about the movie. Mostly that it seems as if the filmmakers are only concentrating on the first third of the book rather than the story as a whole. I'm also a bit mystified as to why the creatures of the novel have been changed from vampires to these "infected" creatures. Oh well…
By Bert Ehrmann
10/30/2007
A collected edition of the comic book series The Other Side has been released and is highly recommended by your's truly. From Vertigo:
If you liked Jarhead or Full Metal Jacket then you'll love The Other Side.
By Bert Ehrmann
10/28/2007
To get ready for the Halloween week of fun that I try to have every year, I took the night off to go see a new horror film. Like Bert, I have also noticed the problem with "new school" horror films. Nothing seems to scare the pants off of me anymore like they use to. I am not sure if its just me growing up or the fact that I have seen so many horror films that they don't affect me. Maybe 30 Days of Night will end the recent horror draught.
The town of Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States, endures ever winter 30 days without sunlight. As the small town closes everything down for the upcoming darkness a mysterious stranger arrives in town. What the town doesn't know is what the stranger has brought along with him. As the sun goes down the horror begins. Vampires attack the town and feed on everyone in sight. The few remaining survivors must hide and wait out the 30 days without sun.
This film really wasn't that bad. I never got a chance to read the Graphic Novel but I enjoyed the film. The concept of the film is amazing and has a definite realistic feeling to it. I was a little disappointed in the Vampire design but the survival aspect of the film was pretty dead on. At first I did not like the fact that they would cut away from the actual gore that I paid good money to see but as the film progressed the blood flowed more frequently and the heads went a flying. If you enjoy vampire films for the gore and not the story I would totally recommend this movie.
By Matt Alexander
10/24/2007
Halloween-time is upon us once again and that got me thinking, why aren't most horror movies all-that frightening anymore? Though almost any scary movie can have a few “jump scares” when the killer pops out at an surprising time or when character unexpectedly dies, not many of these movies leave any lasting impact on the viewer. These days, horror movies seem to be dominated by over-the-top gore and/or the so-called "torture" sub-genera like the Hostel movies or the Saw franchise. But even with all this extra gooey gore and screamin' torture I can't say that many movies over the last few years have left me all that scared walking out of the theater. In fact I have to go a ways back to find the last movie that I found really frightening, The Mothman Prophecies (2002).
Continue reading this column on The Mothman Prophecies.
By Bert Ehrmann
10/21/2007
Wired has a story about the proposed television series Alive, where the creators of the show are trying to get the series off the ground by building buzz via the Internet and viral videos. From the story:
"We're not doing this to trick or deceive anyone," said Rosenblum about the way the viral campaign was revealed to the sites. "We hope they like what they see and steer genre fans in our direction."
By Bert Ehrmann
10/14/2007
Watch the teaser trailer for the upcoming Christmas special episode of Extras.
By Bert Ehrmann
10/12/2007
I'm not too crazy about the poster for the upcoming I Am Legend movie. It seems rather bland
By Bert Ehrmann
10/12/2007
I had only really intended on watching the first hour of The Company to kill time as I waited for something else to come on later that night. As I watched the first episode, though, I found myself so drawn in to the plot of the series that I ended up watching the entire episode missing what I had originally wanted to see later that night.
Continue reading this column on the television mini-series The Company.
By Bert Ehrmann
10/5/2007
For better part of the summer I sat and waited for the next installment of the Resident Evil Series. I was highly skeptical about the film, looked like a ripped off Mad Max with hot chicks, and I must say that I was some what disappointed.
The movie takes place some years after the second film. The Umbrella Corporation thought that they had contained the T-Virus epidemic in Raccoon City, but now the whole world is infected. The infection left the earth a wasteland with only a few survivors left trying to find a new home. The only hope for humanity according to Umbrella is to track down Alice ( Mila Jovovich ), for her blood is the antidote to the T-Virus.
The premise for this movie was a good idea. I liked the fact that the world had been affected and turned into a barren wasteland. The overall plot to the movie was god awful. This makes me very upset because since the first game came out, back on the old PS1, I have been a RE fan. I have three problems with things other then the plot.
1. Not enough ZOMBIES ! The whole RE series is based on zombies. There was not enough zombie killing or zombie eating.
2. Not a good enough back-story. Claire Redfield is introduced to Alice and thats about it. Same with other "new" characters. Also many of the "new" characters had no role in the film and were not needed. Sure I can see a bunch of people trekking across the desert in search of a new home but I don't need to know who they are. ( JUST ZOMBIE BAIT ANYWAYS !) and.....
3. Since when does Alice have the Force. They hinted on it in the end of the second film but that was a dumb idea. I realize she is suppose to be a super-soldier but they aren't suppose to have special powers. What is this the Fantastic 4?
Overall the movie was a big let down. The special effects were okay and I was happy that they had the "zombie crows" in this film, but it seemed like they just rushed everything they could. My recommendation, wait for the DVD release. Good thing RE 5 is coming out and looks amazing.....
By Matt Alexander
9/26/2007
I usually look forward to this time of year. Sure, I'm a sucker for changing leaves and cooler weather, but it's during the fall that the television networks begin premiering their slew of new comedies and dramas.
But this fall something's different. I'm not sure if it's new shows like Cavemen or the multitude of Sex in the City clones, but this year I'm just not interested in many of this season's new shows as previous. Sure, I can't wait for new episodes of established series like The Office, My Name is Earl and Battlestar Galactica but the only new series that I'm even remotely interested in is Bionic Woman and Pushing Daisies – and I hate to admit that even these new shows don't look that inspiring.
Continue reading this column on cable television shows.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/21/2007
Here are some dates to remember next week.
The week of SEPTEMBER 23—27 (All Times EST)
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By Bert Ehrmann
9/16/2007
Several new (and cool) character posters have been released for the movie 30 Days of Night. Poster 1, 2, 3.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/15/2007
By Bert Ehrmann
9/14/2007
Last Sunday HBO debuted a clip from the upcoming Generation Kill mini-series by Ed Burns and David Simon – the creators of the series The Wire.
Variety describes the seven-hour series as:
Generation Kill is set to air sometime next year.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/11/2007
Out on DVD next week is one-half of the movie Grindhouse – Death Proof. Apparently, the version that's being released on DVD is DIFFERENT than the one that was released in Grindhouse as this version is classified as "Extended and Unrated" – whatever that means.
Does this mean that the theatrical version of Grindhouse will NEVER get a proper DVD release then!?
By Bert Ehrmann
9/11/2007
The teaser trailer for the upcoming Iron Man movie's out and guess what? It's actually kind'a cool.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/10/2007
For some reason it's the comic book convention in San Diego gets all the press. Sure, it's the largest convention of the sort in the country, but does it really deserve to be known as the one and only "Comi-Con" when there are literally dozens of other comic-cons that are held across the country each year? When was the last time you heard about the comic book convention in New York, or Philadelphia or even the second largest convention in the U.S. held just a few hours up the road from here every summer; Wizard World Chicago?
Continue reading this column on Wizard World Chicago.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/9/2007
The two-hour season finale of Burn Notice entitled "Loose Ends" is set to air Thursday, September 20.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/6/2007
Syndicated episodes of The Office begin airing on TBS next Tuesday (9/11) at 10:00 P.M. (EST).
By Bert Ehrmann
9/4/2007
The sixth series of McFarlane's Military figures are due out later this winter. Figures include an Air Force Helicopter Gunner, Army Infantry Grenadier, Army Infantry M.O.P.P Suit and Marine Mortar Loader.
By Bert Ehrmann
9/3/2007
The first two seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are out on DVD this Tuesday (9/4).
The third season of the series premiers Thursday, September 13 at 10:00 P.M. (EST). If you can't wait until then, you can watch a pre-season episode on the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia MySpace page entitled "Mac is a Serial Killer."
By Bert Ehrmann
9/3/2007
Here's your chance to help choose the DVD cover for the upcoming Battlestar Galactica movie "Razor." After you vote, there's a short clip from the movie that explains exactly why the movie's called "Razor."
By Bert Ehrmann
8/28/2007
I'm digging the poster for the movie Right at Your Door.
By Bert Ehrmann
8/27/2007
Out on DVD Tuesday, September 4 is the defunct series The Black Donnellys.
By Bert Ehrmann
8/26/2007
The series Dexter follows Miami Police Department blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a modern day Jekyll and Hyde that spends his day investigating crime scenes and nights moonlighting as a serial killer. But Dexter's not just any serial killer, he only preys on other serial killers or mass murders who haven't been brought in by the justice system.
Continue reading this column on the television series Dexter.
By Bert Ehrmann
8/19/2007
Check out some photos we took to our annual visit to Wizard World Chicago last Friday (8/10).
By Bert Ehrmann
8/12/2007
By far the best movie in my collection, Evil Dead 2 took horror films to an all new level. I remember seeing the film for the first time when I was about 10 or so and thinking to myself this was the greatest movie ever made. (Before that there was Aliens) There was something about a hand running around on its own that just made me feel complete.
Evil Dead 2 follows Ash(the one and only Bruce Campbell), the somewhat dorky S-Mart employee, who rents a cabin in the woods with his girlfriend. The cabin just happens to be owned by an Archeologist who has managed to find the Necronomican (the book of the dead) and has awoken some evil spirit in the process of reading the books passages. The unexpected Ash is in for a world of hurt when the Demon possesses his girlfriend and turns her into a "Deadite". With a quick flick of his wrist, Ash manages to behead his girlfriend with a shovel and soon finds out that the Demon is after him as well. Losing a hand in the process, (and retrofitting a chain-saw replacement) Ash must fight for his life or he will be Dead by Dawn.
In my eyes there is absolutely no flaws in this film what so ever. It follows the basic horror scheme of keeping the plot simple and having lots of blood and guts. The slapstick humor in the film gave us plenty of disturbing moments as well as close to vomiting laughter. For as long as I live, I will always remember Ash and that damn Deer laughing their heads off for no reason. The horror effects in the film were ground breaking, from the cutting off of limbs to the stop animation work. The many different colors of blood used in the film also gave it its own uniqueness. This film is full of one-liners that I still use to this day constantly. Who would have thought that the director/creator of this film would one day be part of the Spiderman supernova of today.
We just killed our girlfriend with a chain-saw. Does that sound fine?
By Matt Alexander
8/9/2007
But even after two films, dozens of wrecked cars, bruised egos and numerous corpses in his wake, the CIA isn't finished chasing Jason Bourne yet – don't they ever learn!? Due out later this Summer, and billed as the final movie of the series, is The Bourne Ultimatum. In this film, Jason Bourne must deal with a bevy of assassins and government agencies all out to stop Bourne from learning of his true origin. Somehow I doubt Bourne's "true origin" is that of a celebrity chef missing from Food Network.
Continue reading this column on the movies of Jason Bourne.
By Bert Ehrmann
8/3/2007
The Comic-Con poster for the upcoming movie Whiteout has been released, and it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Frank Miller illustrated cover to the source comic book. Via Internet Movie Poster Awards.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/31/2007
Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery has posted large teaser posters for both the upcoming J.J. Abrams movies Star Trek XI and the as-yet untitled 01-18-08 monster movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/29/2007
Sideshow Collectibles is set to release a wall-mountable diorama based on the movie Alien. From Sideshow:
By Bert Ehrmann
7/29/2007
For the past couple of weeks now my brain has been overloaded with the release of the new Harry Potter film (Order of the Phoenix) and the last and final book of the series (Deathy Hallows). Of course it does not help that I was also trying to finish Stephen King's Dark Tower series as both of these summer blockbusters came out. So how did the film turn out? and how did it all end? Don't worry I'm not going to post anything that will ruin the series.
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix:
The film picks up where we last left Harry, the only witness of the return of He Who Must Not Be Named. The wizarding world is in shock and are torn between wether or not they believe Harry or think that its just another Potter publicity stunt. There are few like Harry who know the truth and have started and army know as the "Order of the Phoenix", led by none other then Hogwart's Headmaster Dumbledore. Included in the group are previous characters we have encountered in previous films; The Weasleys, Harry's Godfater Sirius, Prof. Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, as well as some new characters that will prove themselves in the end. With Harry wanting to fight, the Order insists that he return to school because that is the only way he can be protected from Voldemort. With the Ministry of Magic as well as some of Harry's own classmates believing that Harry is a liar the new school year will be filled with grief. From the introduction of a horrible new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to a spiritual bond to his most hated enemey, Harry's school year/life will never be the same.
In all honesty I was a little disappointed in the film. Being such a great fan of the books I guess its hard not to be. I will say that the screenplay matched the book very well but there was just too much story to be told inside of a 2 hour movie. Sure the new actors playing characters I can only imagine inside my head were phenominal but there was just something missing this time around. The CG was amazing as always but I also noted how they changed certain ways they did things in the film then in the previous films and I did not like that. It would be like making C-3PO purple in Return of the Jedi, it just doesnt work. The film has to flow along with its other counterparts to be able to continue the story and thats what I thinked this film missed. I mean sure I am probablly going to see again and I will get it on DVD but is is not my favorite HP film.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I am just going to give my opinion on this book because unlike the rest of the world I do not want to ruin the story of Harry and his friends. The book was amazing and has crept up into the top 3 position (my top 7 I guess) of the series. There was no other way to end the story and JK Rowling finished it with grace. I do not think I have ever read a book so fast. Not because it was an easy read but I litterally could not put it down. I couldn't tell you how many hours of sleep I lost just wanting to know what happens next and how it all was going to end. I laughed, I cried and I hurled...... well not some much the last one but it's funny. Anyways the book was good and if you are a HP fan from the films I would definatley recommend reading the books as well.
By Matt Alexander
7/27/2007
I'm digging the USA series Burn Notice. It's an interesting mix of The Bourne Identity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus cult-superstar Bruce Campbell co-stars as Sam Axe, a burned-out ex-spy who's more interested in watching the ladies than working.
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By Bert Ehrmann
7/21/2007
The poster for the upcoming No Country for Old Men has been posted on JoBlo.com.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/21/2007
Every Summer when the movie cineplexes are kicking into high gear the television networks seem to be shifting into low gear. Over the sweltering Summer months, these networks prefer to burn off the last few episodes of failed drama and comedy series while also releasing a slew of reality and game shows in order to fill their TV schedules. And if you're the type of person that's into these types of shows then good for you, but if you're like me and can't stand even a minute of reality TV there are some alternatives to the Summer television doldrums.
Continue reading this column on what to watch this Summer.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/20/2007
Ever Since The World Ended sounds like an interesting movie. From IMDB:
Ever Since The World Ended is currently available on DVD.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/13/2007
A first-look at the Battlestar Galactica tele-film "Razor" has been posted on YouTube.
By Bert Ehrmann
7/11/2007
I was a young pup when the original incarnation of the Transformers hit the television airwaves back in 1984 as the original cartoon series. It was a daily ritual for me to watch Transformers everyday after school and me and most of my friends all owned a multitude of transformable toys from the series. So, it was with a bit of trepidation that I learned about the live-action Transformers movie set to hit theaters this Summer. I had actually seen the original Transformers movie in theaters back in 1986 and had to wonder if this new version could it live up to the spirit of the original Transformers while also updating the content and story for a 21st century audience?
Unfortunately no, Transformers (2007) doesn't nearly live up to the hype or lineage set before it with the original series – plus it's a bad movie to boot.
In Transformers (2007), the good Autobots face off with the evil Decepticons on Earth over the "All Spark" device hidden somewhere on the planet. This device has the power to turn any machine into a Transformer and whomever possess it will have enough power to take over the Universe. Throw in a hormone driven Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBouf) his "dangerous" girlfriend to-be Mikaela (Megan Fox) and a few stereotypical soldiers lead by Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) not to mention a multitude of other characters who come and go seemingly at random and what you've got is one giant mess.
To be honest I wasn't sure what was happening most of the time and I was confused as to why an Australian (Rachael Taylor) had so much access to the secrets of the Pentagon not to mention why Lennox just happened to seemingly have a direct line from the battlefield of Qatar (where, in reality, there is no battlefield) to the Secretary of Defense (Jon Voight) in Washington DC?
Other than one of the most horribly written scripts in recent memory seemingly cobbled together from bits of much better movies (Transformers, the ultimate remix movie?), the story of Transformers relies on far too many coincidence and cliche to ever deliver anything substantial.
I had expected more but perhaps I expected too much?
By Bert Ehrmann
7/8/2007
Me being the Final Fantasy freak that I am, I decided to review Final Fantasy XII (12). So most of you have played a Final Fantasy and thought, “Oh, this is so boring, I have to level up all of the time, where is the action?” Am I right? Well, then I suggest you think again. FFXII is like no other Final Fantasy game yet. Square-Enix decided to dish out a whole new battle system. This time around, it’s not turn-based, AND, you can see the monsters on the map without having to break into a fight scene every five seconds! It keeps you on the edge of your seat as you control three character’s (maybe even four!) every actions, which are supported by gambits. Gambits are pre-made orders for your character to perform.
The battle system isn’t the only thing new to the FF series this game. They also went on a new route with their story! Usually there’s some bad guy bent on destroying the planet and you have to go stop him, etc. Well, this is way more political, but with some old elements thrown into the mix. You play as Vaan, the wanna’ be sky pirate. Your city is taken over by the Archadian Empire, who is slowly taking control over everything in Ivalice (the world). You get thrown into a whole chain of events that unravels numerous secrets in the political workings of the Empire. I won’t go into detail on the story, but it’s amazing.
Overall, Square-Enix has done a wonderful job with the game. Be on the lookout for a sequel to FFXII coming out for the Nintendo DS! Square-Enix has not yet released a launch date.
By Justin Lose
7/8/2007
Hey there folks, been quite a while since I've done a bit of reviews on the site. So with that in mind, you get a 3 for one deal!
1. Well as luck would have it, Pan's Labyrinth finally came out on DVD, and my wife and I decided to check it out via Netflix. After reading the review from my brother, and seeing that the movie won a few Oscars ( Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Makeup) I figured it was time to see what all the hype actually was about for this flick.
Barring that it was indeed filmed in Spanish with English subtitles (I saw Crouching Tiger / Hidden Dragon in Mandrinn) the movie left me feeling.. a bit disappointed. Granted the creature design and artistic direction for the film were great (last time I saw great creature design was on Farscape), the rest of the film was drab and boring.
And for some reason now-a-days, fantasy film directors are completely into having multiple plots for their films. To me, this leaves the viewer distraught, simply due to the viewer wanting to watch one particular part of the film, and NOT the other. This film's linearity was a bit stretched at times. Half-way through the flick, I felt like I was watching "Bridge to Terrabithia" all over again (but with more gore and gunshots).
Ah.. Did anyone catch the foreshadowing in the flick though? How about the part where the Spanish Captain is shaving, and takes a swipe at the mirror with the razor? Interesting fate what happens later in the flick, isn't it? Matter of fact, I think everyone that watched this were WAITING for the Captain to get his "dish best served cold".
2.Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Ah yes, the conclusion of the Trilogy. You being the viewer are expecting a good, rip-roaring time with Pirates galore, and a overall general good ending to the tale. Arrrrrrr me mateys, there be trouble in them there thoughts. ya'see your third Pirate film has run its course, and burned out that desire to see any Pirate calamity on the silver screen. Bottom line, they should have ended it with the first one. The adventures of Jack Sparrow are always a good time to visit, However, the third installment of this franchise basically beat the horse dead. I did welcome back the ever insanity of Geoffrey Rush (as Cap'n Barbossa). Although Johnny Depp does a wonderful job at being the illustrious "Cap'n Jack Sparrow", Rush gave that extra edge in his character, yielding an image that he was indeed a salty Pirate curr. YARRR! Once again, visually the movie was rather stunning, with Bill Nighy as "Davy Jones" showing off his CGI animated facial features along with the rest of the Flying Dutchman's crew. But as far as the plot goes.. It seems like they just wrote it in 20 minutes and ended the film hastily. 
3.The Wire on HBO. From IMDB.com "Set in Baltimore, this show centers around the city's inner-city drug scene. It starts as mid-level drug dealer, D'Angelo Barksdale beats a murder rap. After a conversation with a judge, Det. James McNulty has been assigned to lead a joint homicide and narcotics team, in order to bring down drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. Avon Barksdale, accompanied by his right-hand man Stringer Bell, enforcer Wee-Bey and many lieutenants (including his own nephew, D'Angelo Barksdale), has to deal with law enforcement, informants in his own camp, and competition with a local rival, Omar, who's been robbing Barksdale's dealers and reselling the drugs. The supervisor of the investigation, Lt. Cedric Daniels, has to deal with his own problems, such as a corrupt bureaucracy, some of his detectives beating suspects, hard-headed but determined Det. McNulty, and a blackmailing deputy. The show depicts the lives of every part of the drug "food chain", from junkies to dealers, and from cops to politicians" After seeing several reviews on this particular Drama series (and being a Fan of "The Shield") I figured that this would be my next stop in DVD rental-dom. And I can clearly say, I am not disappointed. The sheer reality depicted in the series is staggering, clearly showing the day-to-day activities that exist in todays Metropolitan atmosphere. The acting, various plots and overall drama keep you wanting more of the series, and to always want the good guys to win (which, in some cases isn't always the case.) Like "Oz" and "Band of Brothers", HBO clearly delivers another winning TV series for viewing. (So far, We are only at Season 2. )
By Mo Alexander
7/6/2007
With most of the summer movies not impressing me what so ever, (except Live Free or Die Hard) I decided that I would try to rediscover something I loved as a child in a live-action film. For many years I have waited for the Transformers to return to their glory from the 80's. There have been many attempts to reinvent the idea into new Anime style cartoon kid shows but I found them to be....... HORRIBLE. When I found out that Michael Bay and Steven Spielbergh were involved in the film I was again skeptical. Was my childhood dream of an actual live action Transformers movie in peril of becoming another Summer Blockbuster like Armageddon or Con Air? Would Bert, my cousin, finally get to reprieve himself for missing Optimus Prime die in the Cartoon Movie? The answers to these questions is.... Yes !
The movie follows Sam (Shia LeBouf aka soon to be Indiana Jones Jr.) who buys a mysterious car that ends up being a alien robot from a distant planet named Bumble Bee. The Autobots (Good Robots) are trying to find an ancient device that crashed landed on Earth many years ago. The device would give the power to whomever held it the ability to create robotic life. The Decepticons (Bad Robots) mean to use the device to create an army and take over the Galaxy. Its up to the Autobots and Sam to save Earth and destroy the Decepticons.
This movie was Intensity in Ten Cities. I near say that the opening attack on a military base gave me chills. It was everything I expected if a Transformer was real. There was non-stop action and a solid story to go along with the amazing CG work as well as the realtime stunts you would expect in a Bay film. The character development was good and the humor in the film was not overdone. The vehicles they decided to use in the film were great choices even though I will hear many complaints that they did not stick to the original cartoon vehicles. But seriously would you rather see Bumble Bee as a bad-ass Camaro or some new-age VW Beetle. Thats what I thought. Overall I enjoyed the film. I was impressed with the whole film and I hardly ever say that. There are already talks about making a sequel and I hope they do. Maybe next time we will see Soundwave. Transform and Roll Out
By Matt Alexander
7/3/2007
Earlier this Summer, the movie Spider-Man 3 opened to huge business, raking in an estimated $300 million in ticket sales in the month of May alone. But the real surprise hit of the year (so far) was the "swords and sandals" epic 300. Released in March, this "little movie that could" cost an estimated $60 million to produce yet managed to take in over $200 million at the box office with a DVD release set for later this Summer.
Continue reading this column on movies based on comic books.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/29/2007
For ten years Stargate has been on the air and on last friday night the last episode was shown. It was a shock for me to learn earlier in the year that the show was being cancelled but after the final season I realized that it was inevitible. From changes in the cast (even though they were perfect replacements) to the new threat of the Ori, the show had gone semi down hill. But, there is still that fan following that will last forever in the hearts of the people who loved the show. The show is one of my favorite shows of all time and it will surely be missed.
There will be more adventures of the SGC via movies that go straight to DVD but it still will not be the same.
By Matt Alexander
6/27/2007
1408 is a story about Mike Enslin (John Cusack), a writer who makes his living visiting and writing books about haunted hotels across the country. On all his travels, Mike's never been witness to the supernatural, that is until his visit to room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel.
1408 is an interesting movie, but it's just not all that scary. There are some unique moments and a few frightening bits but essentially the movie is John Cusack alone vs. an inanimate hotel room out to kill him and what fun is that?
By Bert Ehrmann
6/24/2007
The first official photo from the upcoming and untitled (?) Indiana Jones movie has been released.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/22/2007
The trailer for the upcoming Western movie 3:10 to Yuma is up on Yahoo.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/16/2007
Another John Carpenter film, Big Trouble in Little China was one of the first action packed films in the 80's to include martial arts from such an amazing culture as China. Yes I know that there was Karate Kid, TMNT pandemonium, and a dozen Jean Claude Van Dam films, but this movie was always a favorite film of my brother and I.
The film follows Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), a trucker stopping in Chinatown to drop off his cargo and to play cards with his old friend Wang Chi. When Wang loses a hand and cannot pay back the money he owes, he tells Jack that they must go pick up his fiance at the airport before he can give him his money. When Wang's fiance is kidnapped at the airport by renegade 80's style gang members, Jack agrees to help Wang find her and rescue her. She is essential for an upcoming plan to revive a thousand year old Chinese sorcerer named Lo Phan and bring him back to the world as a mortal again. Equipped with his army and a trio known as the Three Storms can Jack, Wang and their friends save the girl.
When I first saw this film as a young lad I was enthralled with the fight scenes and the magic during those scenes. Every kid wants to believe in magic and to this day I still have hope. I learned so much about another countries culture, including that China had many different types of Hell. The Three Storms in the film is what really caught my eye at first. (Hell they even copied the film with creating Raiden in Mortal Kombat) The idea that three men could summon the power of the elements of a storm was simply ingenious. If you like high flying sword fights, witty dialogue and an awesome kung-fu gang fight in an alley, this movie is for you. Way to go John Carpenter for creating another amazing film.
"Its all in the Reflexes"
By Matt Alexander
6/16/2007
IMPAwards has posted two cool posters for the upcoming The Bourne Ultimatum movie. I'm guessing these are European versions by the format of the dates on the posters.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/15/2007
I'm not sure what the deal is with years that end in seven, but it seems as if a lot of interesting movies/TV series debut in years ending in this lucky number. This year the movie Starship Troopers (1997) celebrated its tenth anniversary, later this fall Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) will celebrate its 20th and last month Star Wars (1977) turned 30. But there's another important movie most people overlook that also turns 20 this year – Predator (1987).
Continue reading the column on the movie Predator.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/15/2007
The trailer for the upcoming No Country for Old Men has been released, and boy, it's a doozy!
By Bert Ehrmann
6/14/2007
The first episode of John From Cincinnati is available online at HBO.com.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/11/2007
It looks like there are a few new Battlestar Galactica Titanium toys due out later this Summer, a black (WTF!?) Viper Mark II and a red Viper Mark VII. I'm guessing that these are essentially repaints of the original versions of these miniatures.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/10/2007
I had high hopes for Ocean's Thirteen; though Ocean's Twelve (2004) was enjoyable, Ocean's Eleven (2001) was a fun movie from beginning to end and I hoped more of the same from Ocean's Thirteen. Unfortunately, Ocean's Thirteen isn't very good.
In Ocean's Thirteen, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and crew try to "break the bank" on the new casino owned by Willie Bank (Al Pacino) who's partially stolen this venture away from Ocean's member Reuben (Elliott Gould) and left him in the hospital.
Unfortunately, much of the story of Ocean's Thirteen is confusing and the fun of the previous two Ocean's movies has all but left this third outing. There are some enjoyable moments in the movie, but overall Ocean's Thirteen was a disappointment.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/10/2007
The trailer for 30 Days of Night has been released. What I find funny is that though 30 Days of Night started off as a traditional comic book, its referred to as a "graphic novel" in the trailer, I suppose "graphic novel" sounds more important than "comic book."
By Bert Ehrmann
6/9/2007
The teaser trailer for the I Am Legend movie is up over on the Apple trailers page.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/8/2007
The New York Times is reporting that the once canceled melodramatic CBS series Jericho has been "un-canceled" by an outcry from series fans. From the article:
Has a network reviving a show such a Jericho EVER worked? Sure, fans of the original Star Trek were able to revive their series for one more season – but even that mighty show was once again canceled after this resurrection season.
Thanks to Duke for the heads up on all of this.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/7/2007
ComingSoon.net has a copy of the teaser poster to the upcoming I Am Legend movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/7/2007
Yahoo has debuted the teaser trailer for the upcoming American Gangster movie, due in theaters later this Fall. From Yahoo:
By Bert Ehrmann
6/6/2007
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Essentially, in 30 Days of Night a family of vampires wander into the town of Barrow, Alaska during Winter when there's 30 straight days of night before Spring – perfect for Sun-phobic vampires.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/6/2007
How cool is this!? Sideshow Collectibles is offering a John Conner mini-bust that's set to make its debut at The San Diego Comic Con later this Summer but is available for pre-order online this Friday (6/8).
If you're unfamiliar with this version of John Conner, he makes a VERY brief appearance in the opening "Future War" moments of Terminator 2.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/5/2007
Out on DVD next week (6/12) is the third (and last?) season of Deadwood. Extras include episode commentaries and two featurettes.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/5/2007
Next Sunday (6/10) HBO airs the series finale episode of The Sopranos at 9:00 P.M. (EST) and the debut episode of the David Milch (Deadwood) series John From Cincinnati immediately after. There's not much info on the last episode of The Sopranos, but HBO describes John From Cincinnati as:
By Bert Ehrmann
6/4/2007
Build your very own M41-A Pulse Rifle from the movie Aliens. This thing ia so accurate you can shoot live ammunition out of it!
By Bert Ehrmann
6/4/2007
Knocked Up should really be called Growing Up, because that's what it's really about: growing up.
In Knocked Up, twenty-something man-boy Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is living the slacker dream; sharing an apartment with his constantly stoned friends with no real plans for the future. By chance, Ben meets Alison (Katherine Heigl), an ambitious host for the E! network, at a club one night and, again by chance, Alison ends up pregnant after a night of drunken passion.
Ben and Alison tries to do the right thing but discover that staying together while having a child together can be really, really hard. Especially when Ben sees his life of freedom slipping away and the cold, hard reality of adulthood approaching and when Alison begins questioning her decision to place her and her baby's future in the hands of a guy more adept at smoking pot than taking any responsibilities.
Knocked Up is a very good movie, I'd rate it right up there with the 40 Year Old Virgin – another teaming of writer/director Judd Apatow and many of the cast of Knocked Up. It's almost as if Knocked Up is part of Apatow's series on growing up – Freaks and Geeks (high school), Undeclared (college), Knocked Up (20s), The 40 Year Old Virgin (30s and 40s.)
Knocked Up does run a bit long and there did seem to be a few too many sub-plots for Alison and Ben to plow through along the way. Still, after the movie ended I can honestly say that I wanted to see more. Knocked Up 2 anyone?
By Bert Ehrmann
6/3/2007
A few weeks back, with much glitz and glamour, the television networks debuted their schedules for the 2007-08 Fall season. Though next season, much like every other television season the last 20 years, has its share of wacky sitcoms, "rebellious defense attorneys" and "rogue cop" dramas, there are a few interesting and unique series set to debut next Fall.
Continue reading this article on the 2007-08 Fall television season.
By Bert Ehrmann
6/1/2007
By Bert Ehrmann
6/1/2007
With the Memorial Day weekend come and gone I was able to catch some great movies on TV that are only shown every once and a while. My favorite Spielberg film besides the Indiana Jones series, Jaws is the perfect summer holiday Horror film.
Set on the island of Amity, Jaws is a film about a killer great white shark attacking the island's waters and viciously killing a young girl. Not wanting to draw any panic to the Fourth of July tourists the Mayor of the island declares the first death as a mere boating accident. Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) and marine scientist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) know the real truth behind the death. With the tourists arriving, another local boy is killed and pandemonium erupts. The towns people and the tourists fear for their lives and are afraid to even get close to the water. Police Chief Brody then hires local shark hunter/fisherman extraordinaire Quint (Robert Shaw) to take Hooper and himself on a charter to find and kill the beast.
With as many problems that this movie had during production, from the robotic shark not working to bad weather, its still amazing that this film was even finished. The sure size of the shark is what makes the film. To this day when I go swimming, even in a pool, I still look around for something coming up to snap my leg off. With memorable quotes and a great opening sequence to grab the viewers attention, this film is on a lot of my friends top film lists as well as mine.
"Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark."
By Matt Alexander
5/30/2007
Wired has an interview, along with some pretty extensive interview notes, with Knocked Up writer/director Judd Apatow who, along with some cast members, talks about the upcoming movie as well as the television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. From the article "Writer-Director (and Geek God) Judd Apatow Invites You Into His Mind:"
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By Bert Ehrmann
5/30/2007
Aint It Cool News has posted three international posters for the upcoming Transformers movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/29/2007
30 years ago today The Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) was released in theaters. The movie cost an estimated $13 million to make and has since earned something north of $450 million in theaters, not counting VHS, DVD, video store rentals or the five other movies that would follow.
I'm old enough to have seen the movie in theaters (probably during the 1978 re-release) and can remember when the ONLY other way to see Star Wars was on network television once or twice a year.
How times have changed.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/25/2007
EW has posted some an interview with Eric Johnson, star of the upcoming Flash Gordon series. From the interview:
I think it's going to appeal to a lot of people. It's been amazing, in my initial experiences talking about the show, how many men in their 40s into their 60s just light up when you mention Flash Gordon. And I don't think there's a 13-year-old boy in the world who isn't going to think this is the coolest show ever. Frickin' ray guns! How cool is that?
By Bert Ehrmann
5/23/2007
TV Squad has a bit of info on the Veronica Mars FBI spin-off (?) show that wasn't picked up for the Fall 2007-08 television schedule. From the review:
Alas, the reviewer doesn't much like the spin-off:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/23/2007
Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun, The Usual Suspects) is set to write a movie about the first World War entitled No Man's Land. From JoBlo:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/22/2007
HBO.com has posted the first piece of art and a teaser trailer for the upcoming John From Cincinnati series set to premiere Sunday June, 10.
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By Bert Ehrmann
5/21/2007
There are a couple of really cool Sarah Connor Chronicles videos that have been posted on YouTube – see below.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/20/2007
The first (official?) pic of The Joker from the Batman The Dark Knight movie has been released over on the Batman on Film.com site.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/20/2007
Due out on DVD next week (5/22) is Straight Time, a DVD that I've personally been waiting to be released for years. From Amazon:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/20/2007
Some people are obsessed with cars, others with comic books but for 20 years Fort Wayne Reader publisher Michael Summers was obsessed with a made-for-television movie that aired a few times in the late 1970s before slipping into obscurity.
A little history – back in the late 1990s, both Michael and myself worked in the marketing department of a large music retailer. One day, Michael put my knowledge of movie trivia to the test and practically dared me to find the title of a movie he had seen a few times as a kid but never since. He couldn't remember much about the film other than it featured a gigantic turtle, had a girl with "glowing green eyes" and WASN'T the movie Gamera.
Continue reading this column on the movie The Bermuda Depths.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/18/2007
It's official – Fox has picked up the Terminator television series The Sarah Connor Chronicles set to air next Fall. From Zap2It:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/17/2007
Yahoo has posted an "exclusive trailer" for the upcoming Transformers movie. By the looks of it Transformers is Armageddon (meteors at the beginning crashing into U.S. landmarks) plus Independence Day (the Earth in peril by aliens, an alien held captive at a secret location) plus E.T. (Bumblebee bonding with a human adolescent and captured by the government/military).
By Bert Ehrmann
5/17/2007
TVGuide.com is reporting that this season of Veronica Mars definitely is the last. From series creator Rob Thomas:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/17/2007
Out on DVD next week (5/22) is the underrated Kitchen Confidential series. The 13 episode series, only six actually aired, retails for around $30.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/16/2007
ABC has given the go ahead for the comedy Cavemen next season that's "inspired by the Geiko commercials." WTF are they thinking? More on new ABC shows for next Fall here.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/15/2007
NBC.com has posted a section on their web-site featuring their 2007-08 television series line-up, including photos and extensive preview videos for their new shows.
NBC has also posted a Bionic Woman clip on YouTube:
NBC describes Bionic Woman as:
With a whole new existence and a debt to repay, Jaime must figure out how to use her extraordinary abilities for good, while weighing the personal sacrifices she will have to make. Ultimately, it's Jaime's journey of self-discovery and inner strength that will help her embrace her new life as...The Bionic Woman.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/14/2007
NBC announced their Fall television schedule today and according to Deadline Hollywood, new series include The Bionic Woman, The IT Crowd, Chuck, Journeyman, Life, Lipstick Jungle, The Singing Bee, World Moves, Heroes: Origins and Lipshitz Saves The World.
I'm surprised to see two sci-fi shows (The Bionic Woman and Journeyman) on their schedule this year. Interesting.
I have high hopes for The Bionic Woman and The IT Crowd.
UPDATE
Zap2It has posted a bunch of stills from the new NBC shows, including The Bionic Woman, The IT Crowd and Journeyman.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/14/2007
A movie that came out one month after I was born and to this day still is considered the one movie that was made before its time. A Ridley Scott film based on the Philip K. Dick novel, Blade Runner is the ultimate futuristic Sci-Fi film.
In the near future man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones/robots with a limited life-span, used to serve in the colonies outside Earth. Rick Deckard is a cop who is assigned to terminate replicants, known as a Blade Runner. Deckard is called out of retirement when four replicants escape from the colonies to find their creator for the wish of eternal life.
Besides the Star Wars series, this is my favorite movie featuring Harrison Ford. I know what you might say "What about Indiana Jones?", well sure he will always be Indiana too but at least in this movie he wasn't named after the dog. Blade Runner is quite possible one of the best Sci-Fi films ever made. The special effects in the film still to this day dumb-found me and I usually can tell when something is fake. The film has one of the best lines ever at the end of the film, which makes you consider what life is all about. ( Hell, the special speaker at my high school graduation quoted it. )
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
By Matt Alexander
5/14/2007
Spider-Man 3 was good, but not great. This time, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man must do battle with evil Sandman, Venom, the reborn Green Goblin and the upset Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).
Some of the plot and dialog was a bit hokey and over-the-top, and the whole Evil-Peter Parker hep-kat Saturday Night Fever dance sequence was unbearable. Overall, though, Spider-Man 3 was pretty much what one would expect from a typical Summer movie – little plot and lots of action.
If you enjoyed either Spider-Man (2002) or Spider-Man 2, you'll probably also enjoy Spider-Man 3.
But the ending – oh, the ending! I don't want to give anything away but the big last battle between the heroes and villains is a fan-boy's dream. The ending is worth the price of admission alone.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/13/2007
28 Weeks Later is the disappointing follow-up to the very good 28 Days Later. In 28 Weeks Later, a repopulated London is once again in the grips of a Rage-zombie outbreak, and it's up to a small band of survivors to escape the carnage.
Unfortunately, in 28 Weeks Later the story never quite comes together, and there are gigantic story plot-holes throughout. Worst of all, it seemed as if large parts of the story were in place simply to keep the plot moving forward and didn't make much sense.
There were a few interesting action scenes and Jeremy Renner was adapt at playing Delta Force commando "Doyle," but all-in-all a 28 Weeks Later was too "by the book" and not innovative or scary enough.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/13/2007
A more action-oriented trailer to the upcoming The Kingdom movie has been released over at Yahoo. Does anyone else find it ironic that a song like "Bullet the Blue Sky" that can be seen as having elements critical of America is used over an sequence for an American action movie?
By Bert Ehrmann
5/13/2007
The New York Times is reporting that the series The Bionic Woman has been picked up by NBC and that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) will portray the "original" Bionic Woman.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/11/2007
UPDATE – Producer David Eick says that the end of Battlestar Galactica might not be in sight as per James Olmos' comments. From SCI FI Wire:
Dark Horizons is reporting that the next season of Battlestar Galactica will be the last.
Olmos says "This will probably be the most extraordinary season of 'Battlestar'. It's the final season, so it's definitely going to be the most vicious. As far as we know, in respects of the way we have this show constructed, this is the final season."
Sackhoff says "I think part of the problem is that it's an expensive show. It is [a great show], but we don't have the viewership that a great show should get."
By Bert Ehrmann
5/11/2007
MichaelBay.com has posted a ton of pics from the upcoming Transformers movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/10/2007
Action Figure Xpress has posted some details on the upcoming release of the Battlestar Galactica action figures due out later this Fall. It appears as if the figures will retail for (about) $16 each and include two versions of Six, Apollo, Hot Dog and (exclusive to AFX) Helo.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/9/2007
ABC is turning the Steven King story The Long Walk into a reality show*. From TVtattle:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/9/2007
The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film book is HIGHLY recommended by Dangerous Universe. It's 372 pages chronicling the creation process of the movie Star Wars from initial idea to world-wide phenomena. From Amazon:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/8/2007
Yahoo is reporting that the series Lost is set to run three more seasons before the end. From the article:
"Lost" executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who have been vocal about setting up an endgame for the show, have signed on to stay for the remainder of the series' run. Their separate new eight-figure deals with "Lost" producer ABC TV Studio include their services on the show as well as multiyear development pacts set to kick in when "Lost" bows out during the 2009-10 season.
I'm not sold on a 16 episode season – generally television seasons consist of 24 episodes. It seems to me that three 16 episode seasons rather than two 24 episode seasons means, for ABC at least, more ad revenue and more DVD sales for three sets rather than two.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/7/2007
Dark Horizons has posted a spoiler-filled review of the upcoming movie 28 Weeks Later. The reviewer sums up the movie as:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/6/2007
Spider-Man 3 opens big, earning nearly $150 million in the U.S. and $375 million world-wide since its release. From Yahoo:
That put it ahead of the previous record debut of $135.6 million set last summer by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."
Most interesting is the difference between the number one and two movies this week – Spider-Man with $150 million and Disturbia with just $6 million.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/6/2007
EW has posted a list of the Top 25 Sci-Fi film/tv series in the last 25 years. I agree with most of the listings but there are some on here that I definitely disagree with. ( VERY MUCH ! )
Some notable picks are Aliens, Blade Runner, Children of Men, and Doctor Who.
You can see the whole list here :EW's Top 25 Sci-FI:
Number one is garbage by the way so do not even look at it.
By Matt Alexander
5/5/2007
Probably my favorite Mel Gibson movie and the most popular movie of the series, The Road Warrior stands alone in movie history. It was one of the very first films to have the idea of a post-appocolyptic world and what might happen if we all decided to nuke the hell out of each other.
Roaming the highways of post-apocalyptic Australia, years after he avenged his wife, son and his partner who were murdered by the motorcycle gang led by the evil Toecutter. Burnt out former Australian policeman Max Rockatansky is searching for sources of fuel and stumbles upon a gasoline refinery home to a community of survivors. Max finds the community is being attacked by a band of brutal motorcyclists led by Humangus and his finest warrior, Wez, who bid to loot all the gasoline from the refinery for themselves. The community hires Max to help the community transport the gasoline across the highway but Humangus and his cronies are not far behind.
This movie has the best car chase scene probably ever shot. The last 20 or so minutes of the film is nothing but cars blowing up, people getting killed in cool ways, guns being fired and pure intensity. Many films have tried to replicate the "car chase" and have failed miserably. (I mean they even tried it in Mad Max:Beyond Thunderdome and it still sucked.) I remember when I first saw this film (as an 8 year old kid) I thought that Max was betrayed by the community but as I got older I realized that it was all part of the plan and that Max was bad ass. Since then my fascination in all three films have become at a high of sorts since the night I was dubbed Madd Matt for obvious reasons. If you haven't seen this movie I highly recommend it to any one who loves a good old car chase.
By Matt Alexander
5/5/2007
Is it just me, or does it seem as if America is under the spell of some zombie-fetish movement? By my count, there will be five major films out this year, not to mention a slew of books, books and even a television series in the works for next fall that all feature the walking dead.
Relatively few zombie films were released during the golden period of the genera – essentially the 1960s to the 1980s – and the recent explosion of zombie related films can be traced back to two films released in 2002; Resident Evil and 28 Days Later.
Continue reading "Corpse Cinema."
By Bert Ehrmann
5/4/2007
JoBlo has posted two teaser posters for the upcoming American Gangster movie, due in theaters this fall. From JoBlo:
Click for a larger view.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/3/2007
Astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra, one of the original "Mercury Seven," has died at age 84. From Yahoo:
In 1962, Schirra became the third American to orbit the Earth, encircling the globe six times in a flight that lasted more than nine hours.
He returned to space three years later as commander of Gemini 6 and guided his two-man capsule toward Gemini 7, already in orbit. On Dec. 15, 1965, the two ships came within a few feet of each other as they shot through space, some 185 miles above the Earth. It was the first rendezvous of two spacecraft in orbit.
His third and final space flight in 1968 inaugurated the Apollo program that sought to land a man on the moon.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/3/2007
PBS has posted a teaser site and some video for the upcoming The War documentary airing this fall. From PBS:
Throughout the series, the indelible experience of combat is brought vividly to life as veterans describe what it was like to fight
and kill and see men die at places like Monte Cassino and Anzio and Omaha Beach; the Hürtgen Forest and the Vosges Mountains and the Ardennes; and on the other side of the world at Guadalcanal and Tarawa and Saipan; Peleliu and the Philippine Sea and Okinawa. In all of the battle scenes, dramatic historical footage and photographs are combined with extraordinarily realistic sound effects to give the film a terrifying, visceral immediacy.
The film honors the bravery, endurance, and sacrifice of the generation of Americans who lived through what will always be known simply as THE WAR.
By Bert Ehrmann
5/2/2007
Entertainment Weekly has released the first image of a modern looking Iron Man from the upcoming movie of the same name. From EW:
By Bert Ehrmann
5/2/2007
FINALLY – after a nearly 20 year absence from anywhere but 1980s late night television The Monster Squad finally arrives on DVD this July. From Twitch, extras include:
- Audio commentary by Dekker and actors Andre Gower, Ashley Bank and Ryan Lambert
- Wolf Man’s Got Nards! The Making of THE MONSTER SQUAD documentary
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Monster Mania reunion featurette
- Vintage interview with Tom Noonan
- Poster and still gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- TV spot
By Bert Ehrmann
5/1/2007
The full trailer for the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie has been released. I got'ta say, it looks pretty cool.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/30/2007
Esquire.com has posted an interview/conversation with writers/directors Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) and Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).
Part One:
The Naming of Sequels
The Greatest Police Novels Ever Written
Why Unforgiven Is the Most Influential Movie Ever
Guilty Pleasures, Bad Movies, and the Death of Lee Marvin
Part Two:
Director's Cuts Are Ruining the Movies
Is Grindhouse Any Good?
The Nonsensical World of "Popcorn Logic"
There Are No British Action Films
Remakes and the Law of Diminishing Returns
By Bert Ehrmann
4/30/2007
The A.V. Club has posted a list of movies they label as "13 Failed Attempts to Start Film Franchises." Their list includes The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension, The Rocketeer, Godzilla, Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World and The Phantom.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/30/2007
TV addict has a nice run-down on all of the television season finales that start this week . A quick rundown on some favorites:
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See the entire list for yourself here.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/30/2007
The trailer for the upcoming Superman: Doomsday direct-to-dvd movie has been released, check it out for yourself below.
Out this fall, Superman: Doomsday follows the comic book Death of Superman story from the early 1990s and, according to IMDB, will sport a PG-13 rating. Co-written and co-directed by Bruce Timm, the time Adam Baldwin (Serenity) voices Clark Kent and Superman, Anne Heche (Men in Trees) Lois Lane and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
By Bert Ehrmann
4/29/2007
Due out later this year are two books by legendary comic book artist Michael Golden. The first is due out at the end of June and entitled Modern Masters Volume 12: Michael Golden.
From the publisher:
From Amazon:
More on Michael Golden here and here.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/29/2007
Yahoo has posted several more clips from the upcoming 28 Weeks Later movie. Clip titles include "Direct Contact," "Running from the infected," "We Kill It," "Outside the Security Zone" and "Stay Down, Stay Fast."
By Bert Ehrmann
4/29/2007
Variety is reporting that the looooooong discussed follow-up to the mini-series Band of Brothers currently known as The Pacific has been greenlit by HBO. From the article:
"The Pacific" will draw on several sources of material, including Eugene Sledge's tome "With the Old Breed" and Robert Leckie's "Helmet for My Pillow…"
"The Pacific" follows the stories of the two authors, as well as that of fellow Marine John Basilone, as they the fight against Japan across the entire Asian theater.
Much of the mini will be shot in Melbourne, where U.S. troops were stationed during the war.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/25/2007
TV Squad has posted a review of the pilot episode to the proposed The Sarah Connor Chronicles – aka Terminator the TV Series. From the review:
It's not until the final moments of the pilot that you realize there's going to be more to this series.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/25/2007
Radar Online is reporting that Spider Man 3 might be "the most expensive movie ever made." From the article:
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By Bert Ehrmann
4/24/2007
One of my most anticipated movies to come out this year was Hot Fuzz. I am a huge fan of Shaun of the Dead and I was hoping that the boys would release another film that was considered "Fried Gold". Sure it doesn't have zombies but I was still excited.
The movie follows Sgt. Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), an overachiever London police officer, who gets transfered to the small town of Sanford because he does his job so well that he makes all of his other co-workers look bad. Teamed up with his new partner officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the duo finds out that the quite little town isn't all it is cracked up to be. With a killer on the loose and a town that disregards the murders as accidents, Angel and Danny try to uncover the truth.
If you took every cheesy action movie moment from any film it was in this movie and it was hilarious. The film makes fun of Point Blank, Badd Boys 2, Cobra, The Rundown and Lethal Weapon just to name a few. Of course there were also many references to Shaun of the Dead that a lot of people in the audience did not understand. (A shame I must say) The movie was action packed and fun at the same time. It did start off a little slow but the last 30 minutes of the film made up for it. The special effects for the death scenes were awesome. I am assuming that the guys used the same effects team that they used in Shaun of the Dead. With funny characters and funny one-liners this movie is a most see.
By Matt Alexander
4/24/2007
The Venture Bros. co-creator Jackson Publick has posted some nice original art from the series to his blog. This art was used on the packaging for the season two DVD.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/23/2007
The Venture Bros. is essentially a comedic pastiche on the 1960s animated adventure staple Johnny Quest, except that in The Venture Bros. the Johnny character has grown to adulthood, had a couple of kids of his own, failed at following in his father's footsteps and had developed a narcotics addiction.
Continue reading this article on The Venture Bros.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/20/2007
The first trailer for the upcoming The Bourne Ultimatum movie has been released.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/20/2007
Yahoo has posted a slew of new photos and an exclusive clip from the upcoming movie 28 Weeks Later.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/18/2007
The AV Club has an extensive interview up with Ronald D. Moore, producer and creator of the new Battlestar Galactica. From the interview:
By Bert Ehrmann
4/17/2007
MediaWeek is reporting that last the ratings for NBC last Thursday night were the LOWEST EVER. From the article:
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By Bert Ehrmann
4/16/2007
One more poster for the movie 28 Weeks Later, this one is much more in the vein of the poster used for the first movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/15/2007
A new (and odd) poster for the upcoming 28 Weeks Later movie has been released.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/13/2007
Its become that time of the year where movies that come out in the theaters are not appealing anymore. Sure 300 was amazing and I am looking forward to seeing Grindhouse and Hot Fuzz, but there are some movies out now that make you say "How did this get the ok?". (Who really wants to watch another Fast and Furious rip-off.) This is the time of the year where I open the DVD vault and watch some of the best movies, in my eyes, ever made.
John Carpenter's The Thing. A movie based on the idea of an alien organism crashing on planet earth to assimilate and destroy the human population. An Antartic team, led by Kurt Russel's character MacGreedy, descovers the alien spacecraft and soon discovers that one of their own is "The Thing". The movie leads to grusome deaths and wild speculations throughout the movie. As well as some pretty memorable movie quotes. (My favorite - "I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS F___ING COUCH! ")
This movie is one of the movies I think of when I hear the term "Scif/Horror" film. Movies like this just are not made anymore plain and simple. At the time this was released it was part of the great time in movie history in which there were such films as Alien, Predator, Leviathan and of course the all time best alien movie ever Aliens. There have been many movies that stole the idea from this movie to make there own piece of crap (ex. The Faculty, Dreamcatcher) and movies/tv shows that made great references to it. (ex. Cabin Fever, South Park, Slither)
This movie is up there on my list of all time SciFi movies. The location of the film was the key to this film. If you put the actors in the middle of New York it never would have worked. The snow and darkness gave the film the disturbing aspect of being alone in the middle of nowhere with an alien after you. The story could have used a little bit more of a background but it definately starts off with a bang. Next time you find a dog and decide to bring it home.... dont.
The Video Game based on the movie is super sweet.
By Matt Alexander
4/12/2007
Out this May, Gentle Giant is releasing a 6.5 inch bust of Jango Fett and later this October a five inch bust of Boba Fett.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/11/2007
Due out on DVD next week (4/17) is season two of The Venture Bros. Extras include commentaries, deleted scenes and a tour of Astro-Base Go.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/10/2007
IMP Awards has posted a new poster for the upcoming The Kingdom movie, due out later this year. Earlier this year, another poster was released for The Kingdom but was shortly thereafter pulled by Universal after the release date of the movie changed.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/9/2007
LA Weekly has a rather extensive transcript of a round-table discussion between Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and several directors who began their careers directing b-grade films. From the transcript entitled "Grindhouse Gang":
TARANTINO: Yes! I loved Cover Girl Models. Of Roger Corman’s three-girl movies, that would be my third favorite after Night Call Nurses and Private Duty Nurses. I’m also a fan of Hollywood Boulevard, though I almost don’t consider it in the same vein, because it is a wink at those. It’s not a three-girls movie proper; it exists outside of them.
ARKUSH: I still have a Xerox of my paycheck: I was paid $85, and we shot it in 10 days.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/9/2007
On the season four premiere episode of The Sopranos tonight (4/8) there was a short clip from the upcoming David Milch John from Cincinnati show.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/8/2007
IMP Awards has posted a new version of the Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer Poster. I kind'a dig it, but what's up with Jessica Alba's hair?
By Bert Ehrmann
4/8/2007
Yahoo is reporting that the movie Grindhouse has opened to disappointing numbers at the box office this weekend. Which is a shame because I found Grindhouse to be an excellent film. I thought that Planet Terror was the perfect blend of Escape From New York meets Night of the Living Dead and that Death Proof featured one of the most stunning/visceral/edge-of-your seat/amazing 30 minutes in movie history. That stunt Zoë Bell performs in Death Proof was, IMHO, worth the price of admission alone.
From Yahoo:
"Although the overall opening weekend box office was disappointing, the film played to big, cheering crowds in New York, Los Angeles, and other large cities and we hope the strong word of mouth will overcome any initial resistance in smaller markets to its three-hour running time," Dimension Films co-chairman Bob Weinstein said in a statement.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/8/2007
Joe Carnahan, director of Narc and Smokin' Aces, had a bit to say about Mission Impossible 3, a movie he almost directed. From Starpulse:
"I had Kenneth Branagh playing a guy who's based on Timothy Veigh. And I think the cast that we had - Ken, Carrie-Anne Moss, Scarlett Johansson - that's the biggest heartbreak for me because I saw how amazing they would have been. If you would have seen Carrie-Anne Moss move with a handgun after a month and a half, it would have blown your mind.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/5/2007
Don't forget, the final season of The Sopranos and the fourth season of Entourage begins this Sunday on HBO.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/4/2007
If you've never seen The Black Donnellys, and the low Nielson Ratings the series receives on a weekly basis tells me that you're probably not watching, the series follows the four Donnelly brothers; Tommy, Jimmy, Kevin and Sean. These "Black Irish" brothers grew up in a rough New York City neighborhood and as children raised hell stealing whatever they could get their hands on. After a hit and run driver left brother Jimmy crippled, Tommy (Jonathan Tucker) vowed, and was able, in turning his life around.
Continue reading this article on The Black Donnellys.
By Bert Ehrmann
4/3/2007
The official Fox Atomic web-site has a preview up for the upcoming 28 Weeks Later comic book due in stores this Tuesday (4/3).
By Bert Ehrmann
4/1/2007
Before DVDs, even before VHS, people had to go to movie theaters to see movies, even bad ones. Though popular movie theaters would show traditional films, there was a market for, shall we say, "untraditional" movies. Be it an ultra-violent gore-fest flick too bloody to run in a conventional theater or a sexy comedy featuring loads of bodacious cheerleader vixens and their shapely pom-poms. Today, these movies might premiere on DVD or late-night Cinemax, but 30 or more years ago, these movies could have premiered at the grindhouse.
Continue reading this article on the upcoming movie Grindhouse.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/30/2007
Check out the trailer for the upcoming The TV Set movie. From Apple.com:
Writer director Jake Kasdan is no stranger to television series, he had a hand in the series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared while also writing/producing a pilot episode for Zero Effect that was never picked up.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/30/2007
Part of my childhood for the better part of 5 years, the Turtles return for their 4th movie after a long time. The movie is significantly different from the previous three due to the fact that this time it was made in CG. The aspect of making the movie in CG gave the Turtles the opportunity to have better fight scenes and greater "ninja" attributes for the film. For once we got to see the Turtles as they should be. Way to go Technology !
The movie does not necessarily pick up right after the third film (because it stunk) but there are various hints to the older movies. The movie is not like the new Batman movie series, where the story has nothing to do with the previous movies, but continues on with the story of the Turtles. There are many references in the film to the Turtles defeating Shredder or how they wish things were in the "old" days.
The film picks up with the Turtles disbanded. Leonardo is off training to become a better leader, Donatello is a computer help line technician, Michaelangelo is a Party clown of sort, and Raphael has become a vigilante. Of course as soon as evil arises in the form of 13 monsters the Turtles reform to be the comical ninja team that we all love.
I was highly skeptical about this movie due to the fact that I was so use to the live action movies as well as the cartoon show. Needless to say I was highly impressed. The animation was flawless and was a great improvement from the live action. It reminded me of the cartoon show and the comic book squeezed together. I was really surprised with some of the characters that they brought back for the film. ( Casey Jones is the MAN! ) The story was a little iffy at times but its a Turtles movie what do you expect. Also the cast for the characters voices was impressive. Splinter did sound a little drunk at times but what are you gonna do. All in all the movie was a great way to start the franchise again. It has been far too long since I have heard the word Cowabunga.
By Matt Alexander
3/28/2007
Ain't it Cool News has posted two posters for the upcoming Transformers movie.
Click for a larger view.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/27/2007
Checkout the trailer for the upcoming 28 Weeks Later movie here.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/27/2007
Dark Horizons is reporting that the upcoming Battlestar Galactica mini-series, set to premiere later this year, will focus on the Battlestar Pegasus and Admiral Cain prior to her meeting with Adama and the Battlestar Galactica. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
3/26/2007
Due out in July are two busts based on the television show Veronica Mars. The first is Veronica herself (am I the only one to think her face looks more like Gillian Anderson than Kristen Bell?) and the second is Logan Ecolls.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/25/2007
Dread Central has posted their reactions on having seen the first 28 minutes of 28 Weeks Later. From their site:
By Bert Ehrmann
3/23/2007
The New York Times has an article that goes into detail about new comedies and dramas due out on HBO later this year. From the article:
HBO will be adding a new comedy at 10:30 p.m., “Flight of the Conchords,” about a singing duo from New Zealand encountering life in New York…One new comedy Mr. Albrecht said he expected to make a significant contribution to HBO’s next phase is “12 Miles of Bad Road,” a new show from Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (“Designing Women”), which stars Gary Cole and Lily Tomlin and plays like “Dallas” remade by Christopher Guest.
HBO will use a new scheduling format for a drama called “In Treatment.” Adapted (actually, translated) from a hit Israeli show, the half-hour series stars Gabriel Byrne as a therapist who holds sessions with a different patient each night and then undergoes his own therapy session…
A somewhat similar premise is the framework for “Tell Me You Love Me,” which traces the lives of couples in therapy, though their sessions will fill only a small part of the hourlong drama. The rest will cover their intimate lives — and the series, which was once titled “SexLife” and stars Sonya Walger and Jane Alexander, will actually uncover a lot of that…
A mini-series kidnapping thriller called “Five Days” was a hit in England, and HBO, which co-produced the series with the BBC, will show it here later this year. But HBO’s most anticipated mini-series in production is “John Adams” based on the biography by David McCullough, produced by Tom Hanks and starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney…
By Bert Ehrmann
3/22/2007
There's good news for Battlestar Galactica, the fourth season has been bumped from 13 to a total of 22 episodes. From SCI FI Wire:
If the writers of Battlestar Galactica do one thing right it's having memorable season finale episodes, be it Sharon shooting Adama, the return of the Pegasus or even the jump one year in time at the end of last season.
I can't wait to see what happens to the Battlestar Galactica story this Sunday night.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/22/2007
My new favorite YouTube video—"A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead."
By Bert Ehrmann
3/21/2007
Due out next week (3/27) on DVD is the best movie of the year (so far) Children of Men.
Via Amazon:
By Bert Ehrmann
3/20/2007
The AV Club has posted the "22 TV Opening-Credit Sequences That Fit Their Shows Perfectly." Their list includes Homicide: Life On The Streets, The Sopranos, Dexter, Freaks and Geeks, The Six Million Dollar Man, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, Police Squad, The Simpsons and The X-Files.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/20/2007
Finally available on DVD, it's California Valley-Girls vs. the undead during the apocalypse in the unforgettable movie Night of the Comet.
Samantha: "Daddy would have gotten us Uzis."
Regina: "C'mon Hector, the MAC-10 submachine gun was practically designed for housewives."
Hector: [Yelling at think tank zombies] "Think tank, huh?"
[Flips them off]
Hector: "Think on this!"
By Bert Ehrmann
3/19/2007
This Thursday (3/22), writer/director David Mamet will act as guest programmer and co-host for a night of films on Turner Classic Movies. Mamet's picks for the evening include (info from TCM, all times EST):
8:00 PM In Which We Serve (1942)
Survivors of a bombed British destroyer think back on the paths that led them to war.
10:00 PM Island In The Sky (1953)
A WWII transport plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness.
12:00 AM Jour Se Leve, Le (1939)
A young factory worker loses the woman he loves to a vicious schemer.
1:45 AM Killing, The (1956)
A team of specialists plots a daring racetrack robbery, but they don't reckon with human frailty.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/18/2007
EW has the first look at the poster for the upcoming movie 28 Weeks Later.
They also have a bit more information on the plot of 28 Weeks Later. From EW:
By Bert Ehrmann
3/18/2007
Back in the 1970s, the world existed someplace between the tensions of the Cold War and the possibility of a nuclear war. On one side was NATO, lead by the US, and the other the Warsaw Pact lead by the Soviet Union. Though these two "superpowers" weren't involved in a traditional shooting war, there was a covert war being fought along the edges of the Cold War. This is where the characters of the television series The Sandbaggers operated.
Continue reading this article on the television series The Sandbaggers.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/16/2007
Dark Horizons is reporting that a bidding war has broken out over the remake of the Escape From New York movie and that, ultimately, New Line won the rights to the remake. From the article:
A bidding war broke out over the property, hot due to the success of "300" this week which stars Butler,but the mini-major ending up finally securing the rights.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/16/2007
First off ever since my World History class in college I have always had an interest in the tale of these few Spartans who gave up everything to uphold in what they believed in. Frank Miller just made this part of history so much better. So this review goes out to my History teacher Mrs. Tassone.
The movie follows King Leonidas leading 300 of his most trusted men into battle against Xerxes and his massive Persian Army. The reason for Leonidas to make this decision is because he believes that every man should be free and not become a victim of tyranny. Although he is the King of Sparta, Sparta itself does not aide his fight for freedom. With unimaginable odds against him and his warriors, Leonidas is able to prove a point by sacrificing himself and his men for a cause.
This movie was exactly what I wanted to see this time of the year. The way the whole movie was shot was brilliant. My dad even thought it was a cartoon and I had to explain it to him that the movie was based on a comic book and that they filmed it that way on purpose. I don't know if he gets now or not. I also like how they didn't use a lot of well known actors in the film. That gave it the gritty non-hollywood style of the film. I couldn't imagine if someone like George Clooney or some other "Hollywood" actor would fit in the movie. It definitely would be kind of lame though. I also loved how they told the story as a sort of a camp fire tale that led all the way up to the end. It was the right well to tell the story and a very good way to end the movie. Apparently this movie is already getting great reviews as well as complaints from Middle-Eastern nations saying that there ancestors were not as evil as they are portrayed in the movie. No offense but it is a movie, and maybe a history lesson is what they really need.
By Matt Alexander
3/15/2007
Medicom and Sideshow Toys will be releasing a Venom as Punisher figure due out later this year. From Sideshow:
Thanks to Tim B. for the heads up on this.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/15/2007
Latino Review has posted a nice looking teaser (?) poster for the upcoming The Bourne Ultimatum movie, due in theaters this August.
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Larger view here.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/14/2007
SCI FI Wire is reporting that a remake of Escape From New York (1981) might be in the works, with Gerard Butler (300) in the lead as Snake. From the article:
Butler would play Snake Plissken, the one-eyed convict originated by Kurt Russell, who's charged with heading into the inescapable maximum security prison formerly known as Manhattan to liberate the U.S. president.
If Escape From New York is indeed made, it will mark the fifth remake of a Carpenter movie in the last few years. The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13 were remade in 2005, a remake of Halloween is due in theaters later this year with a remake/sequel of The Thing in the works and now Escape From New York a possibility as well.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/13/2007
Due out sometime later this year is a model based off the Power Loader machine featured in the movie Aliens. The Power Loader stands 17 inches tall and will retail for around $250 (!!!), figure sold separately.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/12/2007
300 opens up huge at the box-office and becomes the third-highest grossing R-rated film and the highest opening for any movie released in March. From Yahoo:
Its achievement was all the more noteworthy given that the previous record-holder for the month, 2006's "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown," with $68 million, was a family-oriented cartoon, while "300" is an unabashedly gruesome spectacle with an "R" rating that prevents viewers under 17 attending without adult supervision.
In fact, the opening for "300" ranks as the third-highest for an R-rated movie, behind "The Matrix Reloaded" ($91 million) and "The Passion of the Christ" ($83 million).
By Bert Ehrmann
3/11/2007
Here's a test image from the (maybe) upcoming The Watchmen movie. According to Ain't it Cool News, this image appears as a sort of "Easter Egg" in one of the trailers for the movie 300.
Larger view here.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/9/2007
Here are some great looking pieces of rejected art for the upcoming release of the season two DVD of The Venture Bros.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/9/2007
Diamond Select Toys is releasing several busts from the upcoming Spider-Man 3 movie, including Spider-Man in red and blue, Spider-Man in black, Venom, Sandman and New Goblin.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/8/2007
Apparently, the character of Captain America is dead. Well, kind'a dead that is, since there are a few different variations of Cap' across the Marvel lines existing in different universes.
Is it jaded of me to think that the only thing that sells MORE comic books than killing a character off is when they bring said character back in a few years?
It seems to me that there have been dozens of comic book characters over the years to die only to be resurrected sometime later. I am sure that Captain America will be no different.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/7/2007
SCI FI Wire is reporting that M. Night Shyamalan's next film will be entitled The Happening and "is a paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity." I've read before that this "large-scale threat" is along the lines of The Day of the Triffids – giant deadly vegetables (don't laugh).
But Ain't It Cool News says that The Happening presents an "end of the world scenario" along the lines of the Stephen King book The Cell (about zombified people) and the film No Blade of Grass (about a deadly virus striking London.)
Hmmm…a virus that zombifies people? Sounds a lot like the book I Am Legend to me!
By Bert Ehrmann
3/7/2007
I'm digging the new television show The Black Donnellys on NBC. It's like The Sopranos meets The Departed – if that makes sense. I do wish that the series could be a bit more graphic both with content and language. But what do you expect from a network like NBC?
NBC.com is airing (if that's the right word) a web exclusive episode entitled "God is a Comedian." I'm guessing this is content was excised from the second episode of the series since much of the content of this webisode comes from there.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/7/2007
Created after the first The Terminator movie but BEFORE the second, the The Terminator (1990) comic (aka The Terminator: Tempest) by Dark Horse Comics followed different Terminators and soldiers from the future who travel back to their past/our present.
Written by John Arcudi and penciled by the very talented Chris Warner, this series turned the tables on the original story. In Terminator: Tempest, a group of human soldiers travel back in time to try to stop the creation of the Terminators, and a group of Terminators pursue to make sure their existence isn't snuffed out.
The unlimited budget of a comic book meant that nothing was out of the question to the story, be it an extended sequence in the future or the destruction of an entire shopping mall. Anything went in Terminator: Tempest
After the relatively uninteresting run of the first The Terminator comic book back in the 1980s by another company, the production of Terminator: Tempest comic book successfully stuck with the original formula as presenting the Terminators as scary bad-guys rather than reprogrammed good-guys.
Learn more about The Terminator #1, #2, #3 and #4. This set was collected in a single issue entitled The Terminator: Tempest.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/6/2007
I can't say that I'm too crazy about the design OR font of the
Larger view here.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/6/2007
The trailer for RE 3 is out !
You can view the trailer here.
By Matt Alexander
3/6/2007
Ain't it Cool News has posted a few photos from the set of the upcoming film The Mist.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/5/2007
Here are some utterly gorgeous pics from Battlestar Galactica episode "Maelstrom" that aired March 4. These are breathtakingly beautiful.
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By Bert Ehrmann
3/5/2007
You may not recognize the name David Fincher, but I can almost guarantee that you've seen at least one of the movies he's directed. Though Fincher started his career overseeing music videos in the late 1980s and early 1990s, many consider several of the feature films he’s directed since, me included, as modern-masterpieces.
Continue reading this profile on director David Fincher, director of Alien 3, Fight Club and Zodiac.
By Bert Ehrmann
3/2/2007
The second magician film that was released last year was better than the first. This movie focused more on the actual magic part of the film instead other sub-plots. (unlike the Illusionist) Even better this movie had David Bowie in it.
The movie follows two rival magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden(Christian Bale). When Borden performs the ultimate magic trick, Robert tries desperately to find out the secret of the trick. Is Borden's trick a sham or is it something else.
I found this movie to be exciting and suspenseful at the same time. It seemed that once you had everything figured out something else would come a long and change everything. The rivalry between the two magicians is what really made the movie. They both hated each other so much yet they both wanted to be the best. They risked everything to gain an advantage on the other and it led to the destruction of both of their lives. If you are a fan of Christopher Nolan films then I would recommend this movie. Did I mention David Bowie was in it?
By Matt Alexander
3/1/2007
Variety is reporting that The Wire creators David Simon and Ed Burns will co-write a seven-hour mini-series based on the book Generation Kill. From the article:
Essence of the project, according to net, is how elite members of the Marine Corps confront the military bureaucracy in the midst of a war.
Simon was paired with the project because, similarly, "The Wire" focused on cops and civil servants and how they deal with the Baltimore city bureaucracy in the face of gang warfare.
Tome also focuses on how today's military personnel differ from their WWII and Vietnam forebears. Wright wrote that Marines are "on more intimate terms with videogames, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own parents."
By Bert Ehrmann
2/28/2007
IMP Awards has posted the poster for Sunshine while solace in cinema has a TON of pics from the movie and more information on Sunshine on their site.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/27/2007
The full trailer for the Sunshine movie has been released. Reportedly, the release date of Sunshine has been pushed back to this Fall.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/27/2007
Dark Horizons is reporting that J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) is working on a movie adaptation of the book World War Z. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/27/2007
JoBlo has posted a Silver Surfer character poster for the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie due in theaters this Summer.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/27/2007
The Star Leger has an interesting take on the recent idea that official multiple versions of the same television show can exist simultaneously. Like, for instance, part of the plot of The Office can only be understood by watching the online version of the show via NBC or iTunes rather than the broadcast one. From the article:
That's the question fans of NBC's "The Office" have been asking ever since the Jan. 18 episode, titled "The Return," when new Dunder-Mifflin Scranton employee Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) punched a hole in a wall in a fit of rage. He excused himself and hasn't appeared since.
Turns out the answer to that mystery lies within "The Return" itself -- or, rather, in an extended producer's cut that was made available on NBC's Web site and through Apple's iTunes store. An added scene at the end explained that Andy was ordered to attend anger management classes…
Daniels is rare among producers in his belief that the deleted scenes have as much validity as the ones that made it to air, explaining, "For the writers, in our minds, those scenes have happened. We wrote them, we shot them, and at the last minute, I cut them in the editing room, but we're relying on them anyway for the mythology of the show."
By Bert Ehrmann
2/26/2007
The SCI FI Wire is reporting that a comic book entitled 28 Days Later: The Aftermath will bridge the gap between the 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later movies, the later due out this May. From the article:
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By Bert Ehrmann
2/26/2007
I find it interesting that director Clint Eastwood in his Flags of Our Fathers movie prefers to use the first take of an actor's performance in a movie, while director David Fincher in his movie Zodiac strives for perfection.
From EW on Flags of Our Fathers:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/25/2007
www.scifi.com reports:
Frank Miller, who wrote and co-directed Sin City based on his popular graphic novels, told SCI FI Wire that Sin City 2 is a go and that he hopes to be in Texas to shoot the film by late spring. Miller and Robert Rodriguez will again share directing duties on the sequel.
The movie will follow two of Frank Miller's older comic stories and one new story he has written for the movie. Casting begins soon but many of the former actors from the first film have already said that they wanted to do another film. Hell yeah !
By Matt Alexander
2/23/2007
Hot Toys has some pretty cool "Snap Kits" based on the movie Aliens. Characters include several different types of Aliens, Ripley, Hicks, Apone and Drake.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/20/2007
Blu-blu blu blu blu. Gentle Giant has a Bubo from Clash of the Titans statue due out this May that retails for around $60.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/20/2007
Here's one fine looking poster for the upcoming Grindhouse movie.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/20/2007
One of my all time favorite comic characters has finally made it to the big screen. I've always wanted to see a live action version of the demonic rider and now I can relax. (at least till the next Marvel movie hits theaters)
The movie follows Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage), a motorcycle stuntman, who sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) to save his dying father. By taking his soul, Blaze turns into Mephistopheles's ghost rider, a demonic henchman who must heed his master's call. Mephistopheles calls on Blaze to find and kill Blackheart, Mephistopheles's own son who wishes to overthrow his father. Blaze its torn between accepting his new life as the Rider and his own personal life.
This movie was good compared to most of the other Marvel movies. There were parts that were a little corny but the transformation scene made up for it. Ive never seen Nicholas Cage act so crazy since Face Off and it was amazing. Plus the special effects were incredible. There was some crappy animation parts but you can tell that they focused all of their attention on the Ghost Rider scenes more than the other characters. I did like the sequences in which Blackheart killed his victims. That was very cool. There is also of course the "love" storyline in the movie but I found it to be a little too far fetched.
By Matt Alexander
2/20/2007
The New York Times has an article on director David Fincher and his upcoming movie Zodiac. From the article:
Raised in Marin County, Mr. Fincher was only 7 when the area was seized with fear in 1969. “I remember coming home and saying the highway patrol had been following our school buses for a couple weeks now,” he recalled in December in an interview in New Orleans, where he was editing “Zodiac” while filming “Benjamin Button.” “And my dad, who worked from home, and who was very dry, not one to soft-pedal things, turned slowly in his chair and said: ‘Oh yeah. There’s a serial killer who has killed four or five people, who calls himself Zodiac, who’s threatened to take a high-powered rifle and shoot out the tires of a school bus, and then shoot the children as they come off the bus.’”
“I was, like, ‘You could drive us to school,’ ” he recalled thinking.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/18/2007
The full trailer to the movie Grindhouse has been released, and it's SWEET!
By Bert Ehrmann
2/18/2007
Another movie that I could not see at the theaters arrived on my doorstep the other day.
The movie follows Eisenheim (Edward Norton), a young magician who amazes the crowd with unreal demonstrations at every show. His shows become so popular that the Crown Prince (Rufus Sewell) of Vienna attends one of his shows. Eisenheim asks for a member of the audience to help him with the next trick and the Prince offers up his would be wife Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel).Eisenheim and Sophie recognize each other from their childhoods -- and a dormant love affair is rekindled. Sophie is then murder and all of the blame is put on Eisenheim. Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) is charged by Leopold to expose Eisenheim and try him from murder.
This movie was exatcly the kind of movie I expected with Edward Norton playing the lead role. AMAZING! The rift between what is real and what is not real is confusing at first but in the end everything is resolved. Paul Giamatti's portrayal of his character was award worthy in my opinion. The movie would not have been half as good without Giamatti. The movie is slow at times but its more of I can't wait to see what happens next slow. I would have liked to have seen more of Jessica Biel but I guess I'll live. Now if I can only learn how he did the Orange Tree ........
Go see the movie !
By Matt Alexander
2/16/2007
I've been a big fan of the television series Lost ever since I saw the pilot episode of the show back in the summer of 2004. To me, Lost was a bit of a revelation – a well-written drama that wasn't on HBO. I evangelized Lost to my friends. I gushed over Lost in previous columns and on my web site. I told everyone I knew just how good of a show Lost was. As the series progressed, I found myself to be more and more excited about Lost, and waited in anticipation for each new episode.
Lately though, this excitement has begun to be replaced with questions about the series.
Continue reading this article on Lost.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/16/2007
The AV Club has a list of "14 neglected TV shows that deserve a DVD release." Their list includes Now And Again, Batman, Spaced, Max Headroom and The State. I'd add the short-lived television show The Others to that list as well.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/16/2007
Sideshow Collectibles will be releasing two cool Alien related figures this year. The first of these figures is an Alien 3 maquette which stands a whopping 17 inches tall but costs around $900(!!!). The second figure is model kit based on the Alien Warrior from the movie Aliens. This figure costs around $130, stands 16 inches tall but "some assembly (is) required."
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By Bert Ehrmann
2/15/2007
More ToyFair goodness from Action-Figure. There's toys from the Flash Gordon movie, Green Hornet and Venom from the upcoming Spider-Man 3 movie.
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By Bert Ehrmann
2/14/2007
Variety is reporting that Studio 60 has dropped to its lowest ratings to date and that the series The Black Donnellys will replace Studio 60 a week ahead of schedule on February 26 rather than March 5. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/14/2007
Action-Figure has preview images from ToyFair of some new Battlestar Galactica toys. It looks to me like the first set of figures will contain Apollo, Chief Tyrol and Six.
More images here.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/13/2007
If you liked the movie Children of Men as much as I did, you should check out the comic book DMZ that has many of the same themes as Children of Men.
In DMZ, it's a few years in the future and the second American Civil War rages across the country. On one side is the United States of America and the other is the so-called "Free States." Caught in between these two warring armies is the island of Manhattan that has been turned into a "demilitarized zone" or DMZ. Manhattan has been turned to something akin to a third world war zone where one side fights the other and the locals, caught in the middle, fight everyone else.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/13/2007
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that there will be a fourth season of Battlestar Galactica. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/13/2007
The coolest Punisher comic book I've read in a long time is Punisher: The End published back in 2004. From Marvel:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/12/2007
The Washington Post is reporting that the episode of Lost that aired last Wednesday on ABC was the "the smallest audience ever for an original episode." From the article:
The return episode also garnered the show's smallest rating this season among the 18-to-49-year-olds ABC targets.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/9/2007
The Departed is released on DVD next Monday (2/13). I'm sure this bloody Scorsese epic makes the prefect Valentine's Day gift.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/7/2007
According to the New York Times, the movie Straight Time will be available on DVD this May.
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I've been dying to see this film for years now and the only version available (to this point) was an old VHS copy that's available via eBay. The New York Times describes the movie as:
By Bert Ehrmann
2/6/2007
The companies said Monday that they had agreed to let Apple Inc. continue to use its name and logo on iTunes. Apple Inc. will “own all of the trademarks related to ‘Apple’ and will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use,” the companies said. Beatles records will continue to appear under the Apple Corps green Granny Smith logo, for instance.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/5/2007
IMP Awards has posted the poster to the upcoming The Kingdom movie due in theaters this April. IMHO, this poster appears to be a bit too "Photoshopped."
Update: 02/08/07 - The image of this poster has been pulled at the request of Universal Pictures.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/4/2007
Zap2It is reporting that mid-season replacements The Black Donnellys and Andy Barker, P.I. will premiere this March on NBC. From the article:
The series, loosely based on Moresco's life, follows four Irish-American brothers (Jonathan Tucker, Thomas Guiry, Billy Lush and Michael Stahl-David) who get caught up in organized crime in New York. Olivia Wilde ("The O.C.") and Kirk Acevedo ("Law & Order: Trial by Jury") also star…
"Andy Barker," meanwhile, will become part of NBC's Thursday comedy lineup starting at 9:30 p.m. March 15. It will sub for "30 Rock" for six weeks, with the latter show returning to finish its season on April 19.
Andy Richter plays the title character, an accountant who's mistaken for the private eye who used to occupy his strip-mall office space -- and since business isn't so great, takes on a few cases. Tony Hale ("Arrested Development") and Clea Lewis ("Ellen") also star.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/4/2007
As I began to write this column on movies due out next summer, I had no idea that just about every major film I was about to preview would be a sequel to a previous one. I can understand the tendency of movie studios to release sequels – they usually represent a guaranteed payday – but are TEN sequels in one summer too many? In 2007, have the movie studios gone ”a sequel too far?”
Continue reading the Summer Movie Preview.
By Bert Ehrmann
2/2/2007
So I finally got out to the movies last Saturday to see Pans Labyrinth, which i hate doing due to the fact that I hate stupid n00bs at the theaters. Supprisingly there were not that many people in the theater which ended up nice. Apparently I was the only one in the theater that new the movie was shot in Spanish and had English subtitles because everyone started whining as soon as the movie started. The movie follows a little girl, Ofelia, and her pregnant mother moving far into the Spanish country side to live with her new father. Her step-father is a Captain of the Spanish military devoted to stop the recent uprising of rebels that do not agree on the new Spanish government. Ofelia is a very distracted girl and believes in fairy tales instead of dealing with real issues in her life. She finds a secret place where she meets a Faun that tells her that she really is the lost Princess of the Underworld and that she must go through 3 tasks to be taken back to the Underworld. While this is going on there are many other storylines in the movie. From her mother getting sick, the rebels and military fighting and the Captain killing innocent people for information.
The movie was brilliant. The contrast of the real world vs Ofelia's world is done really well. The costumes in this movie are fantastic. I haven't seen any outrageous creature designs in a long time and I think that this movie really needed to have that in order to succeed. The movie was also very graphic. I was not expecting some of the things I saw in a movie that was suppost to be a fantasy. The story was written very well but it was slow at points. Overall I can understand why this movie is getting Oscar hype. I consider it to be one of the few movies that has come out recently that I enjoyed.
By Matt Alexander
2/1/2007
Out on DVD next week are the movies Hollywoodland and Flags of Our Fathers.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/31/2007
Dread Central has posted several photos from the set of the upcoming movie I Am Legend.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/31/2007
JoBlo is reporting that actress Kate Beckinsale has signed to be the female lead to the big-screen adaptation of the comic book Whiteout.
If you've never heard of Whiteout before, it's a great comic book series about a murder that takes place at a base in Antarctica and the female US Marshal (Beckinsale) who must investigate the crime. One interesting bit of trivia is that (I believe) Whiteout marks the first appearance of Queen and Country comic book star Tara Chace.
Here's the official synopsis of the comic Whiteout:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/30/2007
Due out late winter/early spring are two new additions to the Battlestar Galactica Titanium toy line. The first is the Battlestar Pegasus from the current series, and the second is a Cylon Raider from the classic series.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/30/2007
The New York Times has an article on David Mamet's upcoming book entitled Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business. From the article:
Much of “Bambi vs. Godzilla” is devoted to separating useful and useless aspects of the filmmaking process. “It is enough to drive one to the fainting couch,” he says about Hollywood’s paralyzing practice of making films of increasing expense and diminishing worth. When he sees a poster that lists the names of 18 producers, he wonders whether “the film, perhaps, is being made no longer to attract the audience but to buttress or advance the position of the executive.” If this kind of bureaucrat has replaced the old-fashioned intuitive mogul, “it is not that the fox has taken over the henhouse but, if I may, that the doorman has taken over the bordello.”With entertaining bitterness Mr. Mamet skewers the kind of person destined to succeed in this corporate culture. And a figure skewered by him winds up sounding as tough and treacherous as someone from a Mamet play. “The young bureaucrat-in-training” is apt to learn “that success comes not from pleasing the audience but from placating his superiors until that time it is reasoned effective to betray them.” As for the screenwriter-in-training at film school, “one can study marching, the entry-level skill of the military, until one shines at it as has none other,” he writes. “This will not, however, make it more likely that one will be tapped to be the Secretary of the Army.”
By Bert Ehrmann
1/29/2007
SCI FI Wire is reporting that CBS is working on a zombie drama entitled Babylon Fields. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/29/2007
The New York Times has an article on the upcoming Grindhouse movie.
From the article:
In a darkened office Mr. Rodriguez tinkered with one of his computers, deciding which sequences of “Planet Terror” to show. “This section is so creepy,” he said, cueing up a hospital scene in which Josh Brolin takes revenge on his wife, an anesthesiologist played by Marley Shelton, by slowly and deliberately pricking her hands with her own needles.
In the film a biochemical weapon is released from an abandoned military base — thus the Army trucks — in a small Texas town outside Austin. Residents quickly become infected and crowd the local hospital. The virus has a gruesome effect of course: Not only do the victims’ bodies start to disintegrate (lots of bubbly skin, pus-filled sores and tumors), but they become murderous zombies…
In “Death Proof” a sociopathic stuntman played by Kurt Russell stalks and kills women with his car, the black one with the white skull. “This was something I’d had in the back of my mind from making movies: that stuntmen can reinforce a car and pretty much make it death-proof,” said Mr. Tarantino. “You could drive it 100 miles an hour into a brick wall just for the experience.”
By Bert Ehrmann
1/28/2007
There are several more military figures due out from McFarlane Toys. Figures include Coast Guard Deck Gunner, Marine RCT, Army Special Forces Operator and Air Force Pararescue.
Expect to see these on store shelves this May.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/26/2007
Several different toy sets based on upcoming movies are due out over the next few months. The first figure set is based off the upcoming movie 300. Expect to see these figures out in February.
The second set is from the movie Grindhouse. One of these figures is called "Rapist #1," I'm sure a first for action figure names. (First there was Duke, then Megatron and now Rapist #1.) These Grindhouse figures are due out in March.
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By Bert Ehrmann
1/26/2007
Writer/producer Bryce Zabel has written on his blog about a show he proposed to HBO back in 2002 entitled Hearts and Minds. This show would have followed a group of soldiers involved in psy-ops at a military base in Afghanistan. Hearts and Minds slowly evolved and the location shifted to Iraq and the psy-ops soldiers instead became military intelligence. But things never quite gelled (the other Iraq themed show Over There on FX tanked), HBO had problems finding funds for the show* and since the war and events in Iraq was constantly evolving, keeping the script timely became problematic.
Alas, Hearts and Minds never came to be, but Zabel has posted his script to Hearts and Minds on his blog free to download.
I wonder if Hearts and Minds bears any "relation" to an untitled show proposed for HBO back in the 2005-06 season that would have followed a group of Army Engineers in Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction who find themselves with nothing to do?
* The follow-up series to Band of Brothers also went into production at the same time that Hearts and Minds was being considered, and two war-themed shows would have been cost-prohibitive for HBO.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/25/2007
Zap2It is reporting that the ratings for the episode of Battlestar Galactica that aired last Sunday were less than spectacular. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/24/2007
So after many months of waiting for the DVD to come out I finally got to see Saw 3 and trust me I am kicking myself for not seeing it in the theaters. Saw 3 picks up pretty much where Saw 2 left off. Donnie Walberg's character is still stuck in the "room" and decides that he is going to break his own foot to escape. (which he does and it gets quite messy) The story then picks up on more killings by Jigsaw but something is very different about the murders. You come to find out that Jigsaw is on his deathbed (wait didnt that happen in the 2nd one too?) and he is trying to stay alive for his last "game". His apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) has kidnapped and forced a doctor to keep Jigsaw alive until the final game is over. (the nurse is hooked up to pretty much a shotgun shell collar and will die if Jigsaw dies.) The final game is for a troubled father who has lost his son, played by Angus McFaden(Robert the Bruce in Braveheart), to go through 3 tests that will ultimately lead him to the man that killed his son.
This movie was definately much better than the second one. It tied all of the previous movies together via flashback and it was amazing. You get to find out what happened to certain people you thought were left for dead and why Jigsaw picked Amanda as an apprentice. The new tourture devices were better that ever. The plot twist (like in the other 2 movies) is pretty good too. If you enjoyed the first movie and was a little disappointed in the second then you will definately want to see the third movie in the series.
The question is will there be a 4th?
Im going to try and see Pans Labyrinth this week so I should have a review for that soon.
By Matt Alexander
1/24/2007
Rob M., friend of Dangerous Universe, sent in a report on a scene being filmed in New York City for the upcoming movie I Am Legend:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/23/2007
Here's a cool looking REJECTED poster for the upcoming Smokin' Aces movie.
Larger view here.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/23/2007
Here are some gorgeous looking SFX shots from the Battlestar Galactica episode "Rapture" that aired 1/21.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/22/2007
Genius idea; Zombies vs. Robots the comic book. I wish I'd have thought of it first!
By Bert Ehrmann
1/22/2007
Over the last decade, I've taken a lot of flack for my unwavering admiration of the movie Starship Troopers. Most see this movie as little more than a mindless monster "shoot-'em-up," but I see, and have always seen, Starship Troopers as having deeper elements, not completely apparent upon first viewing. Consider this first article a primer to, and my obsession with, Starship Troopers. Future columns will (hopefully) delve more deeply into the movie and look into the different spin-offs of Starship Troopers, namely the cartoon and role-playing game.
Continue reading this column on Starship Troopers.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/19/2007
A second trailer has been released for the upcoming Sunshine movie.
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By Bert Ehrmann
1/18/2007
Check out the trailer for the upcoming Sunshine movie below, by the director and writer of 28 Days Later…
By Bert Ehrmann
1/17/2007
Two new trailers have been released. The first is for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie due out March 30.
The second trailer is for the upcoming 300 movie out March 9.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/16/2007
CNN is reporting that executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof are saying that there WILL be and end to the television series Lost. (Rather than, say, the series going on, and on, and on like it seems…) From the article:
Cuse, who executive produces with Damon Lindelof, said there seemed to be "an underlying anxiety (among fans) that ... we don't know what we're doing."
By Bert Ehrmann
1/16/2007
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip returns from break next Monday (1/22) on NBC.
From Zap2It:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/15/2007
New episodes of Battlestar Galactica begin airing this Sunday (1/21) on SCI FI.
From SCI FI:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/15/2007
The New York Times has an article on the history of I Am Legend and the new movie due in theaters next winter.
From the article:
Robert Neville, after all, thinks he is the last man alive in a time when a biological plague has created a race of night-crawling human freaks who would like nothing better than to penetrate his sanctuary…“I Am Legend” is testimony to the unexpected durability of Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name. It is the third film based on a book whose original impulse was to one-up the screen vampires of an earlier era…The idea was born, said Mr. Matheson, now 80 and living in the Los Angeles area, “when I was a teenager and saw Bela Lugosi in ‘Dracula.’ I thought if the world was full of vampires, it would be more frightening than just one,” he continued. “And I explained vampires in biological terms…"
It is this idea of pandemic, along with the concepts of vampirism and the effects of solitude on the human psyche, that have kept Mr. Matheson’s slim novel both contemporary and of interest to filmmakers…
This time out the story is set in 2009, three years after something called the KV virus, developed in a laboratory but mutated out of control, has created a planet of bloodthirsty but still recognizably human freaks. Mr. Smith’s Neville, a former military scientist, has not been infected and is trying to find a cure for the pandemic. Manhattan had been quarantined back in 2006, and as far as Neville knows he is the only human left on the island, if not the world.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/14/2007
SCI FI Wire is reporting that the SCI FI Channel has started work on a series based on the Flash Gordon franchise. From the article:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/12/2007
Sideshow Toys is set to release some pretty cool looking toys from Medicom based on the movie Spider-Man 3 later this year – black Spider-Man, Venom and red and blue Spider-Man. The only problem is that the toys run around $100 each!
By Bert Ehrmann
1/12/2007
McFarlane Toys has announced plans to make a series of figures based on the series 24. The first is expected to hit store shelves this August with a second to follow in later in the year.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/11/2007
The A.V. Club has a rather extensive interview with Ricky Gervais. Don't forget, season to of Extras begins airing this Sunday (1/14) on HBO. From the interview:
In fact, the second season (of Extras) —I shouldn't say this, because it'll come back to haunt me—but I think it's the funniest thing I've done. Out-and-out laughs per minute, it's probably got a better hit-rate than The Office. But what it hasn't got, probably, is that mood of The Office. It's more traditional than The Office, it's less situations. They're very much observational situations with results. There's an observation, we meander through it and take it to its logical conclusion. (…)
One of my favorite phrases is, "A camel is a horse designed by committee." All the same ingredients go into a TV show. It's just the proportions that are different, and that's what makes something different from something that's gone before it. (…)
I want Extras to be compared to When The Whistle Blows (the faux show-within season two of Extras). For every wacky postcard, there's a million people waiting to buy it, and for every $10 million of those things, there's one Rembrandt. Purposely, I think I want to aim at doing something that a lot of people won't like. You want a door policy on your club. It's as simple as that. I'm just worried that it looks like I've compared my work with Rembrandt. "Gervais says he's better than Rembrandt!" (…)
In all honesty, I don't think we're gonna do another season (of Extras). I think two is our limit. (…)
In a safe Western world where we're not being shot at and we're not starving, the worst thing that happens to us most days is someone's rude to us, or we accidentally insult someone. Social faux pas is the worst thing that happens to most people, most days, so we've got to concentrate on that, really. You don't need a high incident. The minutiae of human behavior is really the most interesting thing you can explore. You don't need people being taken out by snipers for something to be interesting, 'cause it's not what most of us relate to.
Read the whole interview here.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/10/2007
Two new cool gadgets were released today from Apple. The first is the long awaited iPhone cell phone. This phone comes in 4 and 8 gig sizes and runs a flavor of OS X. But it's more than just a phone, it also acts as an iPod, plays videos in widescreen format, has Internet connectivity and probably does a good job of making phone calls as well!
The only problem is that the phone isn't due out until June and will retail between $500 and $600 (!!). Still, Apple does a great job of making commonly difficult gadgets easy to use and I'm sure the iPhone will be no exception.
Available next month is Apple TV. This box connects your Mac or PC computer to your television, allowing you to watch television shows, movies, listen to music or view your photos on your television via your computer.
The whole thing's wireless capible and will sync automatically between your iTunes and Apple TV much like how iPods work today. To be honest I was hoping that the Apple TV would also act as a DVR, but I suppose Apple sees this box as an opportunity to get more people to buy movies and television shows from iTunes rather than recording them on your own.
My only concern is that it doesn't look like Apple TV plays many different types of video commonly available across the Internet. Still, the whole thing's pretty cool and retails for around $300.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/9/2007
The New York Times has an article on Jim Cameron's upcoming movie Avatar, now due in theaters 2009. From the article:
“This film is a true hybrid — a full live-action shoot, with C.G. characters in C.G. and live environments,” he said, referring computer-generated images. “Ideally at the end of the of day the audience has no idea which they’re looking at…”
The live-action shoot with actors will begin in April, with major effects being done by Weta, the filmmaker Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based effects company, which worked on his “Lord of the Rings.” The film is scheduled for release in summer 2009.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/8/2007
Brian Ford Sullivan over at the futon critic has posted his annual 50 best episodes of the year. I'd have to say that I completely agree with most of his picks, and especially his top two episode of 2006.
Read the entire list here.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/8/2007
I seriously considered listing 2006 as one of the most uninteresting and dull years at the cineplexes in recent memory. In a year when the four top-grossing movies this summer earned something like a combined total of $1.3 billion, there weren't too many movies that seemed to have artistically deserved this box office plunder. Admittedly, most movies released any given year aren't destined to be classics by any stretch of the imagination, but 2006 seemed to have more that its fare share of "unclassics." I’ll admit that movies like Superman Returns and Mission Impossible III were fun "ride movies," but did these enjoyable movies live up to the marketing hype? Will anyone remember them a few years from now? And what was our national obsession with Pirates of the Caribbean?
Continue reading this article on the best movies of 2006.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/5/2007
Empire has released several character posters for the upcoming 300 movie due in theaters this March.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/4/2007
The SCI FI Wire is reporting that the David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) produced "reconceptualization" of the Bionic Woman has been given a "cast-contingent pilot order."
More on the the updated Bionic Woman here.
By Bert Ehrmann
1/3/2007
Idiocracy, the Mike Judge (Office Space) written and directed comedy that only had an EXTREMELY limited release back in September, is finally due out as a DVD next Tuesday (1/9).
From Amazon:
By Bert Ehrmann
1/3/2007
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According to IMDB, the top grossing movies of 2006 were:
$244,052,771 — Cars (2006)
$234,360,014 — X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
$217,536,138 — The Da Vinci Code (2006)
$200,069,408 — Superman Returns (2006)
$195,329,763 — Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
$155,019,340 — Over the Hedge (2006)
$149,244,791 — Happy Feet (2006)
$148,213,377 — Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
$137,501,384 — Casino Royale (2006)
By Bert Ehrmann
1/1/2007
An I'm assuming edited for television version of The Wire begins airing Thursday nights at 9:00 P.M. (EST) beginning January 10 on BET. The "3-day premiere event" continues Thursday (1/11) and Friday (1/12).
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By Bert Ehrmann
1/1/2007