Peter Hall
-
Asian Trailer Watch: 'Bodyguards and Assassins'
Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Trailers and Clips
Just as fans of American action movies should be readying themselves for the explosionpalooza that will surely be Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, which brings together every big-name, bad-guy shooter of the last 20 years, so should fans of Hong Kong martial arts flicks begin bracing themselves in anticipation of the unholy ass-kicking that will be on display in Teddy Chan's upcoming film Bodyguards and Assassins. It tells the story of a group of (mostly undercover) bodyguards who must protect the revolutionary political leader Sun Yat-sen from an onslaught of highly trained assassins sent on the behest of the Emperor to quell the tide of reform in Hong Kong in 1905.
Think of it as 16 Blocks, but instead of a tired Bruce Willis protecting a witness as people shoot at him on the streets of New York, it's the amazing Donnie Yen and a pack of other Asian martial arts stars escorting a political leader across a wildly elaborate recreation of downtown HK at the beginning of the 20th century while a horde of assassins strike using darts, arrows, acid, and all manner of bladed weapon. The production design alone looks outstanding, but you'll soon be forgetting all about the set building once the fists, feet, and other limbs start destroying everything in the newest trailer for Bodyguards and Assassins (thanks to Twitch for the find).
I've included the previous B&A trailers below as well, but it's the action heavy one on top that's most likely to pique your interest -- aside from the bizarre choice of trailer music, this is one of the most blood-pumping, face-pounding, throat-grabbing, sword-chopping, pole-swinging montages I've seen in a while.
A Sequel to 'The Shining' is Brewing Within Stephen King
Gotta love the book tour Stephen King is currently on to promote Under the Dome. First he tells a crowd in Maryland that he has written a draft of the television screenplay for Cell, that HBO wants to do an Under the Dome miniseries, and that he is working on new Talisman and The Dark Tower novels. And now an even bigger bombshell comes: he's got a book plan for a sequel to The Shining brewing in the back of his always-working mind.But before getting to the news, I'd like to address the means by which it leaked out, which is equally interesting. While in Toronto, King followed up a 15-minute reading from Under the Dome with an hour long Q&A in a packed theater. The interviewer? David Cronenberg. Thinking about that taking place makes my heart hurt. My favorite director interviewing my favorite writer? What kind of cruel world hides such an event from me?
Fortunately the books portion of the Torontoist was there to cover the event and they've got all the details surrounding The Shining sequel Cronenberg and King talked about, tentatively titled Doctor Sleep. King explained that he had spent the last summer wondering what Danny Torrance would be like as a grown up and how the emotional scars carved into his psyche by the Overlook Hotel would have impacted the path of his otherwise happy life. The author charts the basic premise thusly:
Read the rest over at Horror Squad.
Learn the Real Reason Darth Vader Wears a Helmet
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, George Lucas
Everyone loves the brooding, over-bearing look of Darth Vader; clad all in black, draped in a cape, wearing an almost featureless mask. We're given no glimpse of any speck of his flesh, forcing us to speculate what kind of person the embodiment of evil actually looks like, and when we're finally given a look at the man under the mask in Return of the Jedi, we understand the reason for his full-body suit: Vader is horribly disfigured, his body severely withered for reasons yet to be revealed.
However, protecting his crippled frame is not the real reason behind Darth Vader's helmet and breathing mask. The following may be common knowledge for die hard Star Wars trivia masters, but for those of us casually in love with the original trilogy, it should come as an amusing bit of insight into the design of one of cinemas most iconic characters. SCI-FI Wire recently interviewed Ralph McQuarrie, George Lucas' conceptual designer responsible for the look of much of what ended up in Star Wars, including Vader's appearance, and the reason he gave is more mundane than menacing:
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Filed under: Action, Animation, Paramount, Sony, Tech Stuff, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Today brings good news and bad news for fans eagerly awaiting The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the first film in a proposed trilogy of new, motion-capture animated 3D films co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson (among others) based on the comic book series created by Georges "Hergé" Remi. Spielberg took up directorial duties on the first in the series, which was supposed to begin filming in 2008 for a 2010 release, but Universal, burned by the under-performance of Beowulf and Monster House at the box office, decided to pull out in the pre-production process, halting progress until Paramount could partner with Sony in order to grease the gears financially. Not much has popped up in the news department since then, however at the London premiere of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, the Lord of the Rings director told reporters that filming had finally been completed on Spielberg's Tintin entry. However, it's still no where close to release. Jackson went on to say that it is going to take another two years to actually animate the film, meaning fans are most likely looking at a late 2011 release date for The Secret of the Unicorn.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Kmart and Sears
Filed under: Deals
Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? The next big brick and mortar retail stores we'll be scouring for Black Friday deals are Kmart and Sears (here are the deals for Best Buy, Target, and Walmart). Neither have a particularly large selection of sales going on in the movie department, but if you're heading to either store for other pick-ups, you might want to keep your eye out for some of the following.
Oh, and the Kmart sale is from 6am to 11am while Sears' runs from 4am to noon.
Black Friday Movie Deals: Best Buy
Filed under: Deals
Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? The first big brick and mortar retail store we'll be scouring for Black Friday deals is Best Buy. So grab your Reward Zone card and some kind of protective shield to fight back the horde of shoppers, for there are deals incoming!
Note: Best Buy opens its doors at 5:00am on November 27th.
New 'Percy Jackson' Trailer Reveals Uma Thurman's Snake Head
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 20th Century Fox, Trailers and Clips
There is a new trailer out for Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, 20th Century Fox' bid to get in on the financial treasures to be mined from film adaptation of young-adult fantasy novels, and for most people it should serve as the first real glimpse into what kind of an imaginary world Chris Columbus, after having ushered in the first two Harry Potter films, is bringing to life on the big screen. I know little about the series of fantasy-adventure novels by Rick Riordan, so it's nice to now have some clarification beyond the film's early teasers, which were merely announcing the title.In this feature trailer you'll actually get a cursory look into the life of the titular Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman, who played Christian Bale's eldest son in 3:10 to Yuma), a teen who is unknowingly a descendant of the Greek God Poseidon, as well as glimpses of the film's nice array of adult actors countering the mostly young cast. We've got a look at Pierce Brosnan as Percy's guide to Greek mythology, as well as glimpses of Rosario Dawson as Persephone and Uma Thurman sporting an unhealthy amount of snakes around her head as Medusa, one of the several antagonists Percy will have to cross in order to recover a lightning bolt he is accused of having stolen from Zeus.
The film will be making its bow on February 10th, which means that between this and Clash of the Titans, Greek mythology is going to be undergoing a welcome, mini-resurgence in the first quarter of next year. So if you thought the trailer for the latter, which features plenty of big budget action and CGI beasties wasn't up your fantasy alley, give this trailer, embedded below, for Percy Jackson & the Olympians a try.
'Rin Tin Tin' Goes From Iconic WWI Dog to Lawsuit
Filed under: Family Films, Home Entertainment
I was unaware that one could trademark a dog, but apparently you can, though it may not hold up in court. Rin Tin Tin Inc., a German Shepherd breeding company named after the dog an American soldier during World War I in France, filed a lawsuit last year against Nu Image and First Look Studios alleging that the use of their breed's name in the kid film Finding Rin Tin Tin: the Adventure Continues was, well, a trademark infringement. Unfortunately for them, a judge has finally ruled on the matter, coming to the rather obvious conclusion that "This descriptive use of the name is fair because it tells the consumer what the film is about -- the story of the historical dog Rin Tin Tin -- and because it is actually about the historical dog Rin Tin Tin." What I find funny about all of this is not only the fact that an entity who takes their name from a widely-known, long-dead dog actor would sue a film for doing the exact same thing, but that their suit called for retainership of all profits from the film and complete destruction of every DVD of it in existence.
Really? It's not as though Rin Tin Tin Inc. invented German Shepherds or discovered the original dog that would go on to be a film, TV, and radio star (yes, a dog used to have several radio shows). All they thought to do was capitalize on its popularity by making a brand out of the dog's genealogy, which at this point must be severely diluted. I hate to see our legal system put to such frivolous use, but I'm glad to see a judge saw fit to dismiss the suit: I'd hate to live in a world without a single DVD of Finding Rin Tin Tin!
Jaycee Dugard's Horrific Story to Get a Sleazy Adaptation
Filed under: Horror, Independent
When Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 she was abducted from a bus stop outside her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. The search to recover her was frantic but fruitless and it seemed like the little girl would be lost to her family forever. That is until a now 29-year-old Dugard was able to emerge from her captor and alert authorities as to the unbelievable life she had been forced to endure since her kidnapping. For 18 years she was held against her will by a psychotic husband and wife duo who repeatedly abused and raped her, which resulted in Dugard giving birth to two of her captor's children, the first of whom would have been born when the poor girl was 14 years old.It's a hell of a frightening story and now it's set to become the subject of a film called Abducted Girl, An American Sex Slave, only unlike most biographic pictures, the family of Jaycee Dugard desperately wishes it wouldn't exist. A representative for the family explained, "If and when Jaycee and her family think it is appropriate, their story will be told by them, in a forum of their choosing with the respect and thoughtfulness they so deserve. Anyone else speculating about the details of such a personal hurt, for financial gain, is exploitative, hurtful and breathtakingly unkind."
And if you have any doubt that the maker of Abducted Girl, Shane Ryan, has anything but exploitative ambitions, take a look at his no-budget, z-grade horror movie filmography: Amateur Porn Star Killer 1-4 (the latest of which was in 3D!), So, We Killed Our Parents, Warning!!! Pedophile Released and Sex Kids Party aka The More the Better. Which brings up a sad question: What if a person doesn't want their story told?
Brett Ratner to Americanize Bollywood for Us
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Deals, Distribution
Variety is reporting that Brett Ratner has been hand-selected by Reliance Big Pictures to re-edit a forthcoming drama of theirs, Kites, in order to make the film more accessible to international audiences. Yes, the man who made the Rush Hour trilogy has been tapped to once again crush cultural barriers (assuming that's what Reliance thinks he did with those films). The production is being filmed in both Hindi and English, so it'll be Ratner's job to make sure that the English-language cut is attractive enough for a sales market outside of India, which will only be getting the Hindi cut.And as odd as this news seems at first, the official synopsis for Kites does seem to fit Ratner's penchant for making broad-appeal films: "In the harsh terrain of the Mexican desert, a mortally wounded man is left for dead in the heat of the desert sun. This is J. Once a street smart, carefree young guy. Now, a wanted man. The only thing that keeps him alive is the quest to find the love of his life, Natasha. A woman engaged to another man, but surely destined for J. ... Kites is a story of love that goes beyond barriers, boundaries and cultures. It is a story of passion that defies every rule, of a relationship that takes two lovers on a thrilling journey filled with precious moments - and unexpected betrayal."
I say broad-appeal because that pitch reads an awful lot like Slumdog Millionaire, except without the mention of a game show. However it turns out in the end, it looks like this won't be the last time Ratner teams up with Reliance. Variety hints that re-editing Kites comes with the rights for Ratner to direct Youngblood, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Rob Liefeld... Ah, more films from the man who made X-Men 3, isn't that what we all need?
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
