David Mamet is not wrong when he says this movie is ‘perfect’ when looking at its dramatic structure. Not only that, I’d argue that it is just a perfect film period.

Many may disagree, and this is why they are fools. Not because they disagree with me (though that is just as bad), no, it is because this film oozes tenderness, nostalgia, and a true heroes journey. If only they could get past some hang ups, they would see that it is sheer brilliance put on film. At a glance, when it came out, I thought it looks on par with all those ‘Scary Movie’ flicks, and a National Lampoon style spoof.

If you’ve been one of those who have been under the misconception that this is a terrible movie (I admit, I was once one of them), I assure you it is not. It takes place in the afterglow of out of work actors that have their fame from a Star Trek-like show, they’re hired to go to conventions and grand openings of department stores. At a convention a group of real aliens try to ask for their help as they have seen these old tv shows and see them as ‘Historical Documents’, they believe it’s reality tv.

Not only does it poke fun at classic Trek, but it also treats it as an endearing piece for everyday fans. I still get chills and a knot in my cold metal heart when Alan Rickman says in all sincerity “By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged.” and Rickman finally accepts how much a ridiculous fictional character can mean something so profound to another.

This DVD is packed with awesomeness; 2 documentaries about its creation, some great deleted scenes that add to the movie, creating the alien race and a Thermian audio track. But by far the best special feature is Sigorney Weaver rapping, where Sigorney, Sam Rockwell and Daryl Mitchell shooting rhymes with other cast members throwing down alien signs in the background…. obviously they had fun on the set making this movie as the movie itself.

Pencilbot is proud to say we are running a contest here on BSR! for one person to get a free copy of Galaxy Quest Deluxe Edition FOR FREE!!! Look here tomorrow for all the details. Show some love.

Swank-mo-tron: And so, gentlerobots, we’re here to discuss Disney/Pixar’s film, Up.  Up tells the story of the 78-year old Carl Fredrickson and the adventure he embarks upon after tying millions of helium balloons to his house and setting off for South America.  It’s alternately heart-warming and hilarious, tear-jerking and suspenseful and I feel like it has earned its place among the very best of Pixar’s films.  In fact, the economy of story and script in this film was nothing short of astounding.  “Sure,” you’re thinking to yourself, “he can use a lot of buzz words when describing things about the movie,” but I’m in earnest.  The opening of the film plays out in a montage that crams the entire life of Carl and his wife, Ellie, that gave me such a thorough and complete understanding of these characters in less than 10 minutes that I felt like I’d already watched an entire movies-worth of information told which a graceful economy of words and actions that most movies these days aren’t able to accomplish in the entirety of their running length.

There’s more I’d like to add, but I’d like to give the other robot’s a chance to speak:

As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, Iron Man 2 is just under a year away; and if you’re also following Director Jon Favreau’s Tweets, you’ll know that they are at the half-way point of filming. Empire was able to recently talk to the Iron Man 2 director and his newest villain, Mickey Rourke, about Iron Man’s struggles and the Whiplash suit.

“Tony’s expected to be a role model and I don’t think he’s ready to be one. He’s under a great deal of pressure and when you’re under pressure, I think you find outlets for that. That’s one of the tensions of the film: it’s one thing to say you’re Iron Man, and another thing to actually become Iron Man.”

Meanwhile, Mickey Rourke, who appears as new Iron Man nemesis Whiplash, was back on set last week after a stint with Sly, Li, Lundgren, Statham et al on The Expendables. “I’m having the time of my life!” he enthused about joining the Iron Man franchise. “It’s been really brutal, because my Iron Man suit weighs 23lb. It’s sort of a half-suit, with half my skin showing, with lots of Russian tattoos, because [Whiplash is just] out of a Russian-zone prison.”

You can check out the full interview over at Empire where Favreau also teases about War Machine…

The latest Q&A from Warner Bros. latest direct-to-DVD movie, Green Lantern: First Flight is with screenwriter Alan Burnett. If you have been watching DC cartoons on TV since the 80’s and 90’s as I have, then you have seen his work, most notably on the timeless Batman: The Animated Series. Burnett has also written for other fan faves including Batman Beyond, Batman and Superman, and even going further back, Duck Tales and Smurfs! He has been around writing great episodes for great shows for a long time and I know I am looking forward to seeing what he’s done with ol’ Hal Jordan!

QUESTION:

Is there a message within this film?

ALAN BURNETT:

Well, one of the messages is that I like lots of fights (he laughs). I suppose it’s the old “Don’t judge a book” thing. Appearances are deceiving. Those who you think might be your greatest friend can be your greatest enemy, and those you might think are of no use to you could be the most important person in your life.

QUESTION:

Did the origin story development of Hal Jordan in Justice League: The New Frontier influence your approach to this first Green Lantern film?

ALAN BURNETT:

I’d originally treated the origin story by going back to the very first Hal Jordan/Green Lantern comic book. But ultimately, my script was about 20 minutes longer than it should’ve been. Bruce Timm came up with the idea of getting the origin done as quickly as possible, so that’s where some cuts were made. Now we get the origin story done before the opening credits, and we leap right into the adventure from there.

You can check out the rest of the interview here!

JoBlo posted the following pics:

For the third installment of Warner Bros. Q&A series with the cast and crew of Green Lantern: First Flight, Juliet Landau (best known for her role as Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) talks about her role as the alien Labella in the film. She also touches on her experience in writing comic books and her other voice acting works in the DC Universe.

QUESTION:

Do you have a preference for the type of characters you play?

JULIET LANDAU:

I like playing all different kinds of characters. Each one is it’s own little puzzle. Aliens are fun because you have a lot of freedom. The voice of Labella just came to me when I read the pages in a kind of organic in a way. I immediately felt like she had to sound the way I played her. When I came in for looping (pick up sound work) Andrea Romano described my Labella sound as “honey-voiced.” I think that really captures it.

QUESTION:

Tell us about Labella?

JULIET LANDAU:

There was a lot of room for invention in this character, especially with the device they use with her. I don’t want to give it away, but she does go through a bit of torture and it causes a rift between Sinestro and Hal. I really liked the sexuality and the flirtatiousness of the character. She’s very different from any of the characters I’ve voiced on Justice League Unlimited or Ben 10: Alien Force – she’s a completely unique character.

You can check out the full interview with Juliet Landau here.

One of my favorite movies as a 13 year old kid was Terminator 2: Judgement Day.  I was still a little young when it hit theatres (11) but when it hit video and I was able to get my hands on a copy, it pretty much rocked my world.  That’s the thing about both James Cameron and Terminator movies: they’re designed to blow away the sensibilities of 13 year old boys.

This is not a bad thing.

The only thing with movies like that is that you can’t expect Shakespeare.  Or even incredibly intelligent stories.  Or scripts that make sense.

What should you expect?

Well, you should expect some bad acting.  I was surprised how silly Christian Bale was.  And you should expect some silly story.  I was surprised by how paint by numbers the script was.

But I didn’t care.

This was a bad movie, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  I laughed, a lot.  That wonderful deep belly laugh that only a bad movie can provide.  I really wish someone arrogant enough to be credited solely by a lame nickname would be arrogant enough to make a great movie, instead of a bad movie with some great action sequences.  But, you know what?  This movie is tailor made to make 13 year old kids go out of their minds and that’s the point, isn’t it?

The older me laughed, but there were a few moments in the film that captured the spirit and attention of the 13-year-old-me.  In fact, there was one moment in the film that was truly spectacular and took my 13-year-old’s breath away.

There’s a spoiler of sorts here, because I’m going to reveal that moment and I’m glad I didn’t know about it.  (Maybe you do…  I’m not hip.)

But seriously, when Schwarzenegger shows up as the T-800 at the end…  Young, CGI Schwarzenegger…  It was truly worth the price of the admission for that moment alone.  A naked, 28 year old Schwarzenegger in all of his Mr. Universe’y glory shows up to beat everyone down at the end of the film and then, at that moment, it really felt like a Terminator film and it made me very, very happy.

The other thing I was happy about was the amount of homage that was paid to the original Terminator film.  From specific shots of an endoskeleton’s feet clanking up the stairs to Sarah Connor’s ridiculous taped confessions to her son, it’s all there and it’s wonderful to see.

So, go in expecting this movie to be bad, but don’t forget to enjoy the hell out of it.

Poor Sam Raimi. He finally gets back to his horror film roots with his new movie, Drag Me to Hell, and all people want to ask him about is Spider-Man 4. Yesterday, MTV talked to Sam and specifically asked about Kirsten Dunst returning as Mary Jane Watson for the fourth pic. Here’s what Raimi had to say on the matter:

“Kirsten? I have talked with her, and she’s very excited about the possibility of it,” Raimi revealed, insisting that although Dunst is willing, it will be the director’s call to make after he reads the script by Lindsay-Abaire. “I think I’m going to have to read the screenplay and make sure everything we’ve talked about is working, before I could honestly tell you absolutely how [Dunst’s possible return] would go.”

I for one have never liked Dunst as MJ. She just didn’t seem to fit the part. I am comfortable in saying this because my shallowness knows no depth: She wasn’t attractive enough. To me, and as far as the comics go, MJ seemed to be the girl next door who just happened to have the supermodel good looks. Maybe I am alone on that one… But also, her acting left something to be desired, especially in the third one.

In digging for a little more information about this, I found that a lot of fans would love to see semi-Utah-native Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who will be co-starring in the upcoming Scott Pilgrim film) cast as MJ. All over news message boards her name popped up saying she should have been cast as MJ from start – though, I don’t recall her ever being in the running for the part. I think she has the look, don’t recall her in many of the films she’s been in (Final Destinations 1 & 3, Sky High), but I doubt MJ will be recast because frankly, what has Kristen Dunst been up to lately? Doesn’t seem like a whole lot.

Besides, I don’t think I would like to see MJ recase necessarily, because while I don’t like Kirsten as MJ, she’s spent 3 movies portraying her so she kind of is Mary Jane in the movie canon. With that said, I don’t see why they couldn’t just write her out of the next few movies, it wouldn’t be hard, just a simple cameo in number 4 of her leaving to LA to pursue her modeling/acting career and BAM! She’s gone. Leaving the door open for what I think would be a good romance between Gwen and Peter. I mean, come on, you can’t introdcue Gwen Stacy and NOT have her and Pete dabble in a little romance, and with MJ out of movies 4 & 5 you could really develop that just in time to see her demise and then I guess the return of MJ. After that long of an absence it would probably THEN be easier to recast her to come back late in the 5th or 6th installments.

Just my thoughts, I will turn my fanboy wishful thinking switch off now.

Rumors about a third Ghostbusters movie have been around as long as the second installment, but it just seems to never get off the ground due to one reason or another. An aspect of the third movie has always been surround a passing of the torch to a new generation of Ghostbusters, and as the original cast gets older (and wiser, of course) this aspect seems to have become a necessity. LA Times’ Geoff Boucher got the chance to talk to Dan Aykroyd about Ghostbusters 3 and he seems to think they are on track to start filming it late this year… of course, a cough in the wrong direction could change that at any second, but let’s stay optimistic shall we? Check out the story below.

Courtesy Geoff Boucher, LA Times

I just visited with Dan Aykroyd over at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip for an interview for an upcoming feature in the Los Angeles Times (you’ll be able to find it here on the Hero Complex as well). We talked about a wide range of topics, but I didn’t want to wait on this update about the third “Ghostbusters” film, which is moving forward after so many years.

Aykroyd said Sigourney Weaver is on board now, as are the original squad of ectoplasmic specialists — Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. Murray’s presence was the pivot point in making a third film happen. He holds a one-fifth controlling interest in the property rights and has been seen as the most reluctant to return to the paranormal comedy. Aykroyd said that is true but that it’s more nuanced than the public portrayal of the situation.

“I don’t put not making the third movie on Billy. We can’t do that. I’ve been very busy. Harold’s been busy, Ivan’s been busy. And a third script really didn’t coalesce properly. And Billy, you can’t blame an artist for not wanting to do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God’s sake. Although I’m the biggest cheerleader as the originator of the concept but I’ve never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie. I never said he held it up or that he refused. Hey, listen, he’s an artist. You can’t force somebody into it. I’m sorry he never read my third draft because I thought it was pretty good but, look, now we’re at a point that there’s a story that he can accept and that’s going to work, and I think we’re going to be in production fairly soon. We could be in production by winter.”

The script is by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the writing team behind the upcoming Jack Black/Michael Cera movie “Year One” (directed by Ramis), and Aykroyd is enthused about its premise of a new generation of Ghostbusters taking over the duties of the aging team. Aykroyd said he wishes Ivan Reitman would return to direct the third film in the series but that he’s “too busy as a mega-producer” to take it on; his second choice is Ramis, who, of course, co-wrote the first two “Ghostbusters” films with Aykroyd and has numerous directing credits, most notably “Groundhog Day” and “Analyze This.” “He has a lot of things going on, but it would be wonderful to see him do it.”

Aykroyd says he believes the movie will move forward but that he has also learned that “at any second everything could blow up.” The details of story are still in play, but Aykroyd said he’s hoping for a five-member “new generation” team with several female members. “I’d like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let’s revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let’s pass it on to a new generation.”

Who does Aykroyd think would be good in the jumpsuits? Aykroyd mentioned two names, Alyssa Milano (who is a voice in the upcoming “Ghostbusters” video game) and Eliza Dushku. “I think they’re amazing,” he said. “And I’m excited about the whole idea of getting this done.”

On Friday, May 29th, Sam Raimi will be reverting back to his horror roots with his new film, Drag Me to Hell. The good folks over at Superhero Hype! got a chance to talk to Mr. Raimi about lessons learned from Spider-Man 3 and his anticipation upon his return to the franchise for a fourth installment.

Although the storyline is still top-secret–and still being written–Raimi tells ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com about returning to the wall-crawler’s world, taking criticism to heart, the lessons learned from returning to semi-guerilla filmmaking, and how with great “Spider-Man” films comes great responsibility.

CS/SHH!: Was making a fourth “Spider-Man” film an easy call for you to make? And were you and Tobey Maguire in lockstep on the decision, both eager to do it together?
Sam Raimi: I only wanted to do it with Tobey because my interest is in living the character with Tobey in a deeper way than we ever have lived it before. There comes with the familiarity a knowledge of a lot of the basics. I think it’s really going to allow us to delve deeply into him as a human being, which is really why I’m into it this time.

CS/SHH!: “Spider-Man 3” received its share of criticism even though it was successful at the box office. Are you taking that into consideration when you’re developing the fourth film?
Raimi: Do I take the criticism into consideration? Yeah, absolutely. All filmmakers want their films to be liked. I shouldn’t say that, but I definitely want my films to be liked by the audience. I don’t make an artistic type of picture that I can say to myself “Even if this crowd doesn’t like it, it stands as a work of art and will be appreciated years later or has meaning without the audience.” I simply am an entertainer and I make films for audience appreciation. When they don’t like it, I don’t have a leg to stand on. If a critic doesn’t like it, it’s like “Oh, he hates me,” or it’s bad, they don’t like it. Every time I get a bad criticism, I just try not to dwell on it but it’s very upsetting. You really want to please people.

CS/SHH!: What did you particularly take to heart? Like would you go back to a single villain?
Raimi: I’m still working on “Spider-Man 4.” More properly, the writer is writing the screenplay right now. David Lindsay-Abaire, a New York playwright, is in New York supposedly writing. We’ll see – I gotta call that guy! He should be done with his script in about four weeks, I think. I think I’d be better prepared to answer that question once I’ve read that script and know what the movie is. I wanted to work in a new way and a new direction. I had just read this great play that David Lyndsay-Abaire had written called “Rabbit Hole” and I just really wanted to work with him on Peter Parker.

CS/SHH!: Was there a significant difference between working on a major franchise and doing a smaller production like “Drag Me to Hell”?
Raimi: With those “Spider-Man” pictures, which I love making, there’s still a lot of responsibility on the director’s shoulders–and the producers, everyone’s shoulders–because you’re dealing with a character that has been around for fortysome years, is much loved by people throughout the world and people not just have a sense of ownership of Spider-Man–rightfully so–they look up to him as a hero. Generations of people do, so you have to be careful with how that portrayal takes place. You have to have a lot of respect for the ownership of everyone, which they do have over that character. And so I was using the word “responsibility” of the responsibility to present him in a proper light. And that’s a great job, but it’s much more freeing to take a break from that and work with your own characters in a place where no one has any expectation of them because they don’t know them. You’re really free to do anyto work in a new way and a new direction. I had just read this great play that David Lyndsay-Abaire had written called “Rabbit Hole” and I just really wanted to work with him on Peter Parker.

CS/SHH!: Was there a significant difference between working on a major franchise and doing a smaller production like “Drag Me to Hell”?
Raimi: With those “Spider-Man” pictures, which I love making, there’s still a lot of responsibility on the director’s shoulders–and the producers, everyone’s shoulders–because you’re dealing with a character that has been around for fortysome years, is much loved by people throughout the world and people not just have a sense of ownership of Spider-Man–rightfully so–they look up to him as a hero. Generations of people do, so you have to be careful with how that portrayal takes place. You have to have a lot of respect for the ownership of everyone, which they do have over that character. And so I was using the word “responsibility” of the responsibility to present him in a proper light. And that’s a great job, but it’s much more freeing to take a break from that and work with your own characters in a place where no one has any expectation of them because they don’t know them. You’re really free to do anything you want. So there’s a lot more freedoms that come with the independent picture “Drag Me to Hell.”

CS/SHH!: Has rediscovering those freedoms got you excited to return to the world of Spider-Man?
Raimi: I’m really looking forward to it. I feel like I’ve been on vacation and I want to come back. And I feel like I’ve learned a lot, working with the time constraints without all the toys and tools I’ve been granted on the “Spider-Man” pictures. I had a lot less to work with. I remember often times in this process my assistant director Michael Moore would come up to me and say things like, “Sam you’ve got an hour left and you’ve got eight shots. What do you want to do?” And I would think. “Oh my god, we’ll just shoot it tomorrow.” And he would say “You’re not coming here tomorrow – you’re never coming back here, the budget won’t let you come back here. You now have 55 minutes. How are you going to get the shot?” First I’d panic, and then I would remember the basics are all I ever needed and I would think, “Well, what’s the point of this scene, what’s the core of what I’m after?” It’s that this character in the story is confronted with this situation, she makes this realization, and that’s where the scene ends. And I can get that with a close up of my actress and a little bit of a lighting effect. Maybe she was going to come outside and see the sun coming down and I was going to have a crane shot and she was going to realize she didn’t have much time. With a simple rose-colored gel and a lamp that’s being faded up and her coming into a close-up, she can look off into the direction of the light suggest she’s seeing the sunset, a little bit of wind with help with the idea of the setting sun and she’ll make a realization in her eyes. At that moment the camera will move in a little bit to underline this realization, a bit of fear will come upon her as she realizes she doesn’t have much time as the light is dimming, and she exits frame. With that shot I remembered I can get everything I needed that I thought I needed eight shots to get. And it was invigorating. It never should have been those eight shots anyway.

Spider-Man 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 6, 2011