The “X-Men: First Class” international trailer went up today, and it’s obvious that they got a much better one than we did! The Japanese trailer for the movie (titled “X Men: First Generation” in Japan), has a lot more footage of the upcoming action. Although the trailer begins in a similar manner to its U.S. counterpart, it goes on to give us a much better look at the characters and I think it would bring a lot more people into the theater.
Everyone has seen a Sidney Lumet picture. His first film, 12 Angry Men, seems to be required viewing in middle schools across the country and no one could ever forget Henry Fonda’s riveting performance in that film.
Perhaps his best streak was in the 70s, where in a row he knocked out of the park movies like Serpico, Network, and Dog Day Afternoon. Each of those three movies is a masterpiece, each with its own unique visual style and direction, each mostly flawless. And in the 80s he hit us with one of Paul Newman’s best performances with The Verdict.
For his incredible contributions to cinema (despite having directed The WIz) he was given an honorary Oscar in 2005, and then went on in 2007 to direct one of his best films, Before the Devil Knows Your’re Dead, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, and a mostly naked Marisa Tomei.
As someone who purports to be a filmmaker, I can safely say that Sidney Lumet was one of my favorite filmmakers and I have learned so much from him and his films. I must have read through his book, Making Movies, a dozen times for its enlightening perspective. And his films call to be watched over and over again. Sure, he wasn’t as consistent a director through his career as, say Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg or Alfred Hitchcock, but he was consistently ambitious and knew how to tell a story.
I’m very sorry to hear of his death. Though he was 86, I was still hoping to see more from him. But thankfully we still have so much incredible work he left behind.
His films have always held a special place on my shelf and in my heart, and I’m going to retreat there and watch some of his films to honor and remember him.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes from one of his best films:
It’s the penultimate chapter of The Green Hornet! The war between the racketeers and the Hornet sways back and forth every weeks, but it seems like the forces of good are getting a foothold, thanks to some recent arrests. When we last left our heroes, they were involved in a thrilling scuffle on the rails, how will they get from that to what lies in store for them in Chapter 12: Panic at the Zoo?! Well, watch and find out! I’ll meet you back here next week for the final thrilling chapter!
While today’s clip doesn’t have a shot of Hawkeye, It is much easier to follow the action. In this clip, the newly Midgard-bound Thor wakes up in a hospital after being tased. Not knowing what to do, he kind of freaks, and considering his situation, that’s understandable. The way he gets taken down does make one think about the overall plot of the movie. If my guess is correct, Odin not only banishes Thor to Earth, but makes him mortal. While that probably takes the whole “Don Blake” thing out of the equation, it still makes for an interesting concept. Thor is much more likely to learn humility if he isn’t all powerful, after all. Anyway, I’ve hemmed and hawed enough, let’s watch the clip!
Not to be outdone by the new news about Dark Knight Rises, The Marvel movie camp has some news of their own! The upcoming ‘Deadpool’ has found a director in Tim Miller, according to Deadline. You may not know the name, but Miller had ties with the X-Franchise, having worked on the visual fx in X-Men. While this is Miller’s first foray into directing feature films, he has a track record of directing various video game trailers, so the craft is not an entirely new animal.
According to Deadline, because of Darren Aronofsky leaving The Wolverine, the production schedule has changed and put Deadpool next in line after the upcoming X-Men: First Class. The Scriptwriters and producer are already in place, now with a director things are falling in line. Time will tell if the unproven Mr. Miller has what it takes to have Deadpool make a killing (terrible pun) at the box office.
Miller’s own VFX Studio, Blur, is responsible for the cinematics for DC Universe Online, and those were particularly awesome, so hopefully there will be more nerd hope rather than nerd rage at this announcement!
Josh Pence, who played the body of one of the Winklevoss twins (having Armie Hammer’s face superimposed over his) has been cast as the young Ra’s Al Ghul in a flashback sequence in The Dark Knight Rises, the Hollywood Reporter has learned.
This lends quite a bit of credence to the idea that this film will feature Talia Al Ghul and possibly the return fo Ra’s Al Ghul. No word about whether or not Liam Neeson will be back reprising his role, but I would bet on it. The guy can keep a secret, news of his appearance as Qui-Gon Jinn on The Clone Wars didn’t come until the week before his episode aired.
Never heard of “Cabin in the Woods” a film co-penned by ubber priest of all things nerdy Joss Whedon? Well that’s okay – cause I hadn’t either until a friend forwarded me the link to the Facebook group called Release Joss Whedon’s Cabin In The Woods. How a does a film by some one as note worthy and with such a die hard following (not to mention professional respect) as Joss Whedon end up with a film in storage shelf purgatory? “Major financial reorganization” is how. According to the films own web site it is sitting on a shelf at MGM until some one ponies up the money to buy the distribution rights. If you haven’t been following any of the news on MGM’s financial problems and the many subsequent big ticket franchises they have held up – “Cabin in the Woods” is by no means alone on that shelf.
Horror films don’t exactly have an easy go of it. Any one who ever visited a rental shop or recently checked what was available for streaming on Netlix can attest to the vast amount of horror films that go straight to DVD. After chattering with my fellow Bots here at BSR to see if anyone had heard any more about the project it was reported to me that someone close to Big Shiny Robot! who has seen some pieces of the film is astounded it’s not out, as they said it looked amazing. One would think that Cabin In the Woods would have enough pedigree that it would go the distance and get a full theatrical release. The cast is a great mix of highly venerable character actors, Whedon favorites, and up and coming super stars. Such as this guy….
That is Chris Hemsworth. Also known as the guy who is playing THOR (who will be in the Avengers Movie – which is being Directed by Whedon). I am not saying that THAT is the only reason why some one should put forth the cash and deliver this film to we the foaming-at-the-mouth Whedon geeks. But It certainly does not hurt the films salability. Crowd sourcing is becoming a greater and greater force online in regards to moving forward causes and raising money. As BSR reported on with the Facebook campaign to help Nathan Fillion buy the rights to Fire Fly there is ample support to out there for Whedon projects. Only time will tell if fans will be able to coax a buyer into delivering the goods; Or if Cabin in the Woods will become a lost film in the annals of history.
I have no idea why there’s a random shot of what seems to be Hawkeye in the middle of this clip (since it has no payoff and seems to be outside of the whole situation) but who else would it be?
Thor is obviously breaking out of a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and if they’re taking an Ultimates take on Hawkeye and he’s one of Fury’s men right off the bat it makes perfect sense.
What do you guys think? Does this look incredible or what? And do you think that’s Hawkeye? Or not?
Special thanks to Mockingnerd and Mandybu for bringing this to my attention.
We’re back with another episode of The Big Movie Mouth-Off podcast!
The podcast features the stars and producers of The Big Movie Mouth-Off film review show, which appears here at Big Shiny Robot! and on Xfinity (Utah On Demand and Channel 6). That lineup is: Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment, Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine, and Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.
It’s time for another installment of This Week IN Comics!
Big Shiny Robot! has a weekly column in the Salt Lake City alt-weekly IN Magazine and every week we bring it to you on the site.
If you live in the greater Salt Lake area, you can pick up a copy of IN Magazine up from one of their ubiquitous newsstands, and we would highly suggest that you do.
