Deadline has confirmed that Steven Spielberg will next direct Robopocalypse for his DreamWorks banner. The film will be the second to be distributed by Disney, following the period action-drama War Horse.
Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) scripted the adaptation of the epic Daniel H. Wilson novel about the human race's attempt to survive an apocalyptic robot uprising.
He'll first wrap The Adventures Of Tin Tin and War Horse before starting on Robopocalypse, which should start production in January 2012 for a 2013 release.
20th Century Fox has closed deals for director James Cameron to make Avatar 2 and 3 his next films. The Oscar winner will begin scripting early next year with an eye to begin production in late 2011, but those plans are not set in stone.
One thing is certain: Avatar 2 will be released in December 2014, while the plan is - if Cameron decides to shoot the films back to back - to release the third a year later in December 2015. Cameron and Jon Landau will again produce for their Lightstorm Entertainment.
Read on for the quotes from Fox brass, Cameron and Landau:
"'Avatar'is not only the highest grossing movie of all time, it is a created universe based on the singular imagination and daring of James Cameron, who also raised the consciousness of people worldwide to some of the greatest issues facing our planet," said Rothman and Gianopulos. "We had no higher priority, and can feel no greater joy, than enabling Jim to continue and expand his vision of the world of 'Avatar.' This is a great day in the history of our company, and we thank Jim, Jon Landau, Rae Sanchini and all of their team and all of our Fox colleagues throughout the world, who have made this possible."
Commented Cameron: "It is a rare and remarkable opportunity when a filmmaker gets to build a fantasy world, and watch it grow, with the resources and partnership of a global media company. 'Avatar' was conceived as an epic work of fantasy – a world that audiences could visit, across all media platforms, and this moment marks the launch of the next phase of that world. With two new films on the drawing boards, my company and I are embarking on an epic journey with our partners at Twentieth Century Fox. Our goal is to meet and exceed the global audience's expectations for the richness of 'Avatar's' visual world and the power of the storytelling. In the second and third films, which will be self contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of 'Avatar's' visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world. I'm looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild."
"It is very exciting to be teaming again with our partners at Fox to give audiences the opportunity to return to Pandora," said producer Jon Landau. "With the first movie, Jim only scratched the surface of the stories he wants to tell and the creatures and world he wants to create. Now we will continue his vision."
Director Christopher Nolan. Best known for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Inception.
Although he's probably best-known as the visionary writer/director behind some of the most highly regarded movies of the last decade, Christopher Nolan's true talent has always been his remarkable, nearly uncanny abilility to grant interviews, then refuse to answer all questions. In a recent interview with the LA Times, Nolan is typically reticent -- indeed, most of the article is about how interviewing him is like pulling teeth -- but he does reveal at least three interesting things:
1) The third Batman movie will be called The Dark Knight Rises. While this is obviously an improvement over, say, Batman Begins 3 or The Dark Knight 2 or Batman Forever 5, not everyone is satisfied. According to Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere, the new title "really sucks eggs."
2) The villain will NOT be The Riddler. Considering that most of the activity on the Internet during the last year or so has been devoted to Riddler-related casting rumours (Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Johnny Depp? Michael C. Hall? Paul Bettany?), this news is particularly devastating. At least 10 million hours of collective manpower went into this endeavor -- what was it all for?
3) The movie will not be in 3D, but a combination of IMAX and hi-def. This is good news for movie-goers, bad news for the manufacturers of Tylenol -- the primary beneficiary of the 3D craze.
The tentative release date for The Dark Knight Rises is July 20, 2012. In the meantime, expect Nolan to grant a series of interviews in which he divulges one or two minor details, then responds "no comment" or "I can't answer that at the moment" to everything else.
After the less-than-spectacular returns from last year's Terminator: Salvation, The Halcyon Group sold off the intellectual property and now Vancouver-based Red Bear Entertainment, in association with Hannover House, is readying Terminator 3000, a 3D animated feature film based on the characters and situations introduced in the original Terminator feature.
Envisioned as a $70-million dollar budgeted, PG-13 rated four quadrant blockbuster, Pacificor LLC (the company that purchased the rights from Halcyon) retains approval and licensing authority over the proposed Terminator 3000 project. A January 2011 start is being eyed and Hannover House and Red Bear Entertainment will release details of the production timing, financing and principal production personnel later this year in advance.
Is this the end of The Terminator as we know it? A PG-13 rating will surely turn off die-hard fans of the original films that made the franchise what it was (if Salvation didn't do that already). What are your thoughts on Terminator 3000?
Hollywood.com has gotten hold of Warner Bros. blistering first trailer for Zach Snyder's Sucker Punch! Starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn and many, many more, the film is set in the 1950s and follows Babydoll (Emily Browning) who is confined to a mental institution by her stepfather, who intends to have her lobotomized in five days. While there, she imagines an alternative reality to hide her from the pain, and in that world, she begins planning her escape, needing to steal five objects to help get her out before she is deflowered by a vile man.
Check out the footage from the March 25th release below!
I've been googling and youtubing, like crazy, and I came across this guy named Phil X.
He's (from what I've gathered) is a recording artist and a crazy-talented musician who also makes his own music in his bands called Powder and The Drills.
He has INSANE shredding skills and is currently working on guitar demos for a vintage guitar store called Fretted Americana (FrettedAmericana)
Here are some guitar demos Phil's recorded, and I've been totally stoned watching them for the past few days (first, because of his awesome guitar playing and second, because of how magnificently gorgeous these guitars are).
(Disclaimer) THE VIDEO BELONGS TO FRETTED AMERICANA.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! PHIL X 1956 Gibson Les Paul Custom 01070
PHIL X GOES CRAZY! DOES INSANE HENDRIX ON A 1969 Fender Stratocaster 01020
U2 has raked in a staggering $130 million over the last 12 months -- making the Irish rockers the biggest selling band in the world.
Despite frontman Bono being unable to perform after an operation on his back in May, U2 has still managed to secure its place as the most profitable international group.
According to Forbes.com's list of top-earning musicians, the foursome pulled in $130 million over the past year from their "360 Degree" world tour and sales of their 2009 album "No Line on the Horizon."
In second place was AC/DC, who garnered an impressive $114 million, while Beyonce has made $87 million.
Bruce Springsteen proved he is still The Boss with $70 million, while pop sensation Britney Spears rounds out the top five biggest earners with $64 million.
Beyonce's husband Jay-Z is three behind her at six with $63 million.
Lady Gaga has managed to out-earn her pop idol Madonna -- the newcomer made $62 million compared to the Material Girl's earning of $58 million.
Country star Kenny Chesney earned $50 million, with the Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay tying with a haul of $48 million each.
U2-Where The Streets Have No Name (Live @ Slane Castle)
ROCK ON FOREVAH U2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Directing a weighty sci-fi movie with a nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime, "The Dark Knight" filmmaker's latest effort, "Inception," debuted to $60.4 million at the domestic box office this weekend, according to studio estimates.
That was the high side of pre-release tracking for the $160 million thriller, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a corporate espionage expert who steals data from sleeping big-wigs.
"It's been quite a year for Leonardo DiCaprio," said Warner distribution president Dan Fellman, noting that the actor broke his all-time opening mark of $40.2 million, set in February with Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island."
More on the box office from TheWrap: 'Inception' pulls in $60.4 million
Overall, the PG-13-rated "Inception" scored a B-plus grade from customer satisfaction survey firm CinemaScore.
"There were those who found the film a little hard to understand," Fellman said.
However, the feeling in the exhibition industry is that the film will have an extended play.
Big-screen digital chain IMAX, which made $7 million this weekend playing "Inception" on 197 screens, has the movie booked for six weeks.
"You can just tell by the Saturday gross that it's going to play," said IMAX film president Greg Foster.
Coming Soon was paying close attention to The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson last night, and it paid off. Nic Cage was on the variety program last night plugging The Sorcerer's Apprentice when he revealed that he just officially signed on for Ghost Rider 2, which is being temporarily dubbed Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
In addition, he confirmed that writing-directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have also been locked to work on the sequel, which has an original screenplay by David Goyer.
There's no word on a start or release date yet and given the plethora of superhero films due in 2011 and 2012, I hope that Ghost Rider 2 doesn't get lost amongst them.
It was a night of comebacks at the BET Awards, and none more unexpected than Chris Brown performing an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.
The embattled pop star has mostly kept a low profile since pleading guilty to felony assault for beating up Rihanna in February 2009. But here he was, center stage, mimicking Jackson's signature dance moves with almost eerie accuracy. Introduced by Jermaine Jackson, Brown embodied the King of Pop, wearing his fedora and spangled glove and moonwalking across the stage to "Billie Jean."
Then, as Brown grabbed a microphone to sing "Man in the Mirror," he broke down in tears. His voice cracked, he couldn't sing, and at one point he crumpled to the stage in apparent agony. It was a moving moment made even more so by the song's lyrics and Brown's recent past.
The 21-year-old returned to the stage later in the show when he won the AOL "fandemonium award."
"I let you all down before, but I won't do it again. I promise you," he said.
Sunday's ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium began with a comeback: Kanye West opened the show atop a volcano onstage in his first TV appearance since dissing Taylor Swift at last year's MTV Video Music Awards.
T.I. also made a triumphant return to television in his first TV performance since being released from prison in December. Backed by Travis Barker on drums, T.I. performed "Yeah Ya Know," and later returned to the stage to sing "Hello, Good Morning" with Diddy-Dirty Money, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj, who won for female hip-hop artist.
El DeBarge also made a comeback, his falsetto undiminished, performing hits "I Like It," "Time Will Reveal" and "Rhythm of the Night." He returned later to perform the title track from his new album due in the fall, "Second Chance."
Host Queen Latifah was also musical, first singing to famous members of the audience, then returning to her rap roots and rhyming about the royalty in the audience: herself and Prince, who received BET's lifetime achievement award.
The venerable entertainer was feted with an all-female musical tribute. Janelle Monae offered an energetic take on "Let's Go Crazy." Jazz musician Esperanza Spalding accompanied herself on stand-up bass for "If I Was Your Girlfriend." Alicia Keys started behind the piano, then climbed on top of it, when she sang "Adore," and Patti LaBelle kicked off her shoes to give her all to "Purple Rain."
Prince, who wore a tunic with his own image on it, seemed humbled by the tribute.
"I'm just so thankful to be a part of this world of music," he said. "Thanks for a wonderful night. I'll never forget it as long as I live."
The Hollywood Reporter scoops that Jude Law has joined director Martin Scorsese's upcoming film, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. He joins Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone, Richard Griffiths, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz and Helen McCrory in the GK Films-produced adaptation of Brian Selznick's bestselling 2007 book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The Aviator scribe John Logan wrote the screenplay.
The live-action 3D film began production Tuesday in London. Scorsese, Graham King, Tim Headington and Johnny Depp are producing. Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Charles Newirth and Christi Dembrowski are executive producers.
The film tells the story of an orphan living in the walls of a Paris train station who encounters a broken machine, an eccentric girl and a reserved toy shop manager. It will be released in December 2011.
Vogue magazine recently ran a feature about actress Blake Lively, current it-girl and co-star of Martin Campbell's highly anticipated DC Entertainment/Warner Brothers entry Green Lantern. In it, the young starlet spoke out about the production and there was a little hint within about her character, Carol Ferris, and her eventual alter-ego Star Sapphire. Read on for the quote:
"Our director likes it real—the fights close and dirty," she explains, and for added veracity aerial stunts are being filmed in the rig created for The Matrix. "I'm 40 feet in the air, spiraling around. That's the best workout you can ever do because it's all core," she tells me. "You do that for ten minutes and you should see your body the next day! It's so exhilarating, so thrilling—and nauseating,"
Might this hint about wire work and mid-air spiraling mean that Ferris will make the transformation to Star Sapphire in the film? It's hard to tell, as she could simply be talking about filming a rescue scene in which she's free falling in mid-air before Hal Jordan swoops in for the save. It does have us thinking about what the GL origin story would be like with Sapphire, as well as Sinestro and Hector Hammond in the mix. Just something to think about...
Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds, Peter Sarsgaard and Tim Robbins, opens June 17th 2011.
Variety reports that Megan Fox will not appear as Mikaela in Transformers 3.
Paramount Pictures reportedly decided not to pick up her option as the studio and director Michael Bay want to take the story line in another direction and plan to cast another actress as the love interest for Sam Witwicky, played by Shia LaBeouf.
The trade says the decision "was unrelated to a September interview with a British magazine in which Fox compared Bay with Adolf Hitler."
After the news hit, TheWrap posted an interesting bit of information:
Prince of Persia star Gemma Arterton is the front-runner to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3, TheWrap has learned.
An individual close to the casting process says the actress has already had discussions with Bay about the coveted role. Other possible replacements for Fox include models Bar Rafaeli, Miranda Kerr and Brooklyn Decker.
The third installment is scheduled to hit theaters on July 1st, 2011.
An all-star cast of voice actors helped propel 2008's Kung Fu Panda to critical and commercial success. Adding more star power is the next logical step and The Hollywood Reporter scoops that Gary Oldman is the first newbie to sign on for the sequel.
Jennifer Yuh Nelson is directing Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, slated for a summer 2011 release.
The story centres on Po's (Jack Black) search for other pandas and his run-in with a group of bandits.
Oldman voices a character named Peacock who helps Po find the bandits but is more than he seems.
The actor most recently lended his voice to the animated alien comedy Planet 51 and Disney’s retelling of A Christmas Carol, both of which were released last fall.
Hey guys! I'll be entering an essay contest being held by TIMES Newspaper (not magazine). This isn't the real essay entry, but I'm trying out a few practice exercises. Let me know what you think about it, and please be a fair judge on it because I could really use some constructive criticism. Thanks and cheers!
- Shannon
Arts have a tremendous positive impact on society.
An array of critics cringed as Batman daringly jumped off a 40-something-story building and adeptly swooped across the dim skyline of Hong Kong, kidnapping a rich swindler in his arms. They immediately forgot that they have been bewitched by the beauty and attraction of the film they were being paid to criticize. In the summer of 2008, the award-winning director Christopher Nolan completely altered the course of cinema with his widely praised masterpiece “The Dark Knight.” Never would we have guessed that a spoiled-rotten playboy dressed as a bat fighting a clown dressed in purple would be so dark, edgy, and profound.
Audiences worldwide were moved, and started fiercely debating about many aspects of the film. Even after the film moved out of the theatres, the debate continued, making it nearly impossible to go on the Internet without spotting a blog article on the subject matter. For a while it seemed like everyone in the world was united under the wingspan of Batman. Nevertheless, after seeing the majority of male adults dressed up as Batman in the following Halloween, we cannot help but question: Why are people making such a big deal out of a movie?
Note to oneself: fantasies exist, even in the coldest, most rational minds of the society. All of us at one point have conceived how life would have turned out if we had all the money in the world, if we were as breathtakingly beautiful as Renaissance sculptures, or if we had any superpower we longed for. Unfortunately, those dreams were crushed as soon as we woke up in a world of mad competition, pokerfaced misconceptions, and unsolvable paradoxes. We instantaneously gather ourselves up with unconscious dignity and try to present our flattering side to the commonality. In the contemporary world, fantasizing is reduced to nothing more than a guilty pleasure, a secret hobby, due to the lack of time and investment shriveled up by the restless corporate world. People keep their mirages to themselves, the same way they used to hide love letters in the closet when they were bright youths.
Nevertheless, there is a ray of light to the seemingly depressed human race: art. Art has been in existence since the beginning of mankind, and has provided us a vital way to express ourselves. It is defined as the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. It has been a mirror to our minds, giving us a much-needed break from the real world. We can all account to a moment when we felt a true connection to a form of art, whether it was music, literature film, photography, sculpture, of paintings. The moment of spark sent down chills down our spines, making us feel like we could conquer the world with blunt creativity.
Art is a rainbow palette that stretches our wings. We root for creativity and originality in a world of plagiarism and blandness. Art is one of the only devices left we could utilize to represent our fantasies, and that’s why the public craves so much of it. Art is a crucial part of the modern society, especially cultural phenomenons such as “The Dark Knight.” Such works of art provides an ample opportunity for the public to come out of their shells and voice their opinions. Art is created by humans, therefore we feel a deep connection to it. It has never been nothing more than just aesthetics; it always has been, and will be, a mirror upon ourselves.
The earth revolves with no purpose, I must admit. The essence of time is now reduced to a point where all that matters is about numerous ways to satisfy ones’ desire, greed, and selfish emotions. What a small world it is. Black and white governs the commoners’ daily lives, yet there are so many things left stranded in between. Prejudice, gluttony, and bureaucracy have formed such fated ties, resulting in extreme isolation amongst ourselves. ‘Every man for himself’ is right. Mankind’s foolish attempts to make their lives more convenient has created a mad jungle, in which only the fittest survive in an insanity they themselves don’t have a full grasp on.
Let's face it. Nolan is going off in his own direction, doing his own things. And since the Batman we're watching is clearly entrenched in the YEAR ONE universe, before most of his enemies really came out of the woodwork, there's nothing wrong with the idea of working with some Batman writers and coming up with a really great NEW villain. Worked for Paul Dini when he created Harley Quinn. It could work here.
4) Hugo Strange
Hell yeah. Deranged psychiatrist who discovers Batman's secret and ultimately wants to become him? There's some real danger there - especially if Bruce begins counseling over the death of his lifelong love.
3) Killer Croc
Something new for the Batman universe that Nolan is creating would be something not...quite...human. Killer Croc is an awesome villain who could be adapted in a number of interesting ways. Circus freak, genetic experimentation. I have faith that Nolan could bring Croc to his gritty world and make it stick.
2) Deadshot.
UM. Yeah. Suicidal assassin looking to get whacked by a superhero who won't kill him? This could really create a tough story in which Deadshot gets meaner and meaner, trying to push Bruce over the line while he wrestles with his inner demons and his desires to actually kill. ALL THE WHILE Deadshot is framing him for the murders. Now there's a Batman movie I'd take questions on.
1) Zsasz
Brutal deranged serial killer who believes his targets are zombies that he frees from this mortal coil, then marks up his own body to keep tally? Yeah, that sounds like a Nolan villain. It would also help continue the series slide into darkness - something of an attractive notion compared to the bright and colorful look and feel of the action films that the other Superhero movies tend to have. This is the guy I want most to see.
If anyone read my version of the next Batman movie, you'll probably get a sense of what I want out of it. Well, rumor says otherwise.
Apparently, the possiblities are rooting for Riddler, The Penguin, and Dr.Freeze (holy shit) as the next Batman villians for the yet-untitled addition to Nolan's Batman franchise.
The poster above is not official. It's only a fan art work I found on Google.
It is said that a lot of renowned writers have been working along with Christohper Nolan and his brother since 5~6 months ago.
I am not disappointed, at all. I trust these guys to come up with something brilliant.
I am extremely interested to see how they can manage to sophisticate flamboyant villians like The Penguin and Freeze (who made the first appearance in Batman & Robin, no doubt the most atrocious movie out of all the franchise).
The story is likely to take place in Arkham Asylum, where a bunch of villiam cameos are likely to be made.
There is no doubt the writers were inspired by the plotline of the popular game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. And since it seems almost impossible to bring the Joker back, Batman and Bruce Wayne is likely to be up forefront of the story.
This, if true, can provide a fantastic opportunity for Christian Bale to push boundaries in his acting skills. Now, I'm not at all saying that he's a bad actor, but he's been upstaged quite many times, lately. In his latest movies, The Dark Knight, Terminator: Salvation, and Public Enemies, Bale quietly bit the dust while actors like Heath Ledger, Sam Worthington, and Johnny Depp filled the spotlight.
In conclusion, I cannot be more hyped to go see it.
But GOD does Johnny Depp have to be in it (It'll be Public Enemies: Part Deux)?!?!?!
I always knew Cameron's Avatar was kind of overrated, but I'm definitely not one of those assholes that hold a grudge against the movie for it. I was blown away by the kind of technology that it had created and thought it deserved some recognition for it.
Maybe too much.
Now, I'm not trashing the movie itself, don't get me wrong. But the moment the movie started taking over some of my favorite movies of all time on charts is when my discormfort began.
And now, Avatar finally trumped Titanic, I heard. It's officially the top grossing film of all time.
Out of plain curiousity, I decided to check out the list:
1.Avatar 20th Century Fox $1,924,744,073 (2009)
2. Titanic Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox $1,843,201,268 (1997)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 (2003)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Walt Disney Pictures $1,066,179,725 (2006)
5. The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 (2008)
6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 (2001)
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndWalt Disney Pictures $960,996,492 (2007)
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 (2007)
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $933,959,197 (2009)
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 (2002)
.
.
.
At first, I didn't question the chart's accurency. These guys are professionals. Surely they know their mathematics. But then, I realized that due to the long-term effect of inflation, notably the significant increase of movie theatre ticket prices, the list unadjusted for inflation gives far more weight to more recent films. According to Wikipedia: A film in 1910, given much lower ticket prices at that time, would have to sell close to 100 times as many tickets as a 2007 film in order for the two to have equal gross takings. And surely I was right. Recently Hollywood.com's Paul Degarabedian took notice and reworked the numbers. And the result:
I apologize if you cannot see the letters. If you're curious, check it out at Hollywood.com.
Anyways, like I said, Avatar, coming in at #24, is nowhere close to the #1 spot, which is surprisingly taken by Gone With the Wind (1939).
Great job, Gone With the Wind. Your legacy as one the greatest movies of all time will be left untouched.
.I just saw the movie G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra, and here are by initial thoughts.
First of all, although I'm a girl, I grew up watching the original G.I.Joe animated series, and nostalgia is the only reason why I went to see this. I used to be a hardcore fan, so I have all the action figures and own the DVD of the series.
Anyways, here it goes.
Comparing to a lot of other pigshit Hollywood makes today, the story isn't that bad. Actually it sounds quite promising. It offers a lot of opportunities for awesome action scenes, and it's pretty straightforward for a wider audience to understand. The only problem is, it's not awesome. There are so many pointless action sequences that are thrown into so many random time slots. It's obviously "the Joe's beating the shit out of the Cobras" that we wanted in the first place, but they aren't so kick-ass.
The character development was kind of disappointing. I mean, the characters are so bland. All their lines are just countless catch phrases, and they don't mean anything. And I know a lot of dudes out there who are just hyped up to see Sienna Miller play the Baroness, but aside from her hot, skintight-leather-jumpsuit figure, she doesn't have that much to offer. The only cool characters I remeber from this movie are Storm Shadow, and that friend of Duke's whom I can't even remember the name of. Although Storm Shadow is working for Cobra, he kicks so much ass that I eventually ended up rooting for him.
Now, the biggest problem I have with this movie is the computer graphics. If you saw this movie, you probably know what I mean. It doesn't take a genius to look at this movie and realize the graphics were indeed horrible. Everything looks so artificial, synthetic, and green-screen-ish. The graphics don't enhance the movie, they just downgrade it. Especially at the ending, the graphics go totally nuts. Every single bit of the screen is emphasized, there is something constantly moving, but ultimately, there is no focus. It just looks like a big mess, and your eyes get tired after watching so many poorly computer generated shit blow up.
Finally, and I know this is just plain nitpicking, the title is sort of weird. It's called G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Cobra's in it for like 30 seconds and he doesn't do anything. Well, before he turns into Commander Cobra, he's this weird demented soldier who was just fascinated by nanotechnology. But, whatever, it who the hell cares?
Overall, as a movie, G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra was barely passable, but still a bit enjoyable. If you watched the original animated series, this movie definitely brings back the nostalgia. I'm curious to see the Spill crew do a review on this movie, but if were to rate this movie, I'd give it a low rental, but just barely above Bullshit. Sure, it was pretty bad, but not as horrible as some other movies I've seen in my life. I plead you to not see this movie, but I know you won't listen, so where's the point of asking? :-P
Also, there's one shocker: the creepy doctor is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. You know, the guy from 500 Days of Summer? The guy who was nominated for a Golden Globes for his awesome performance? Personally, I was kinda shocked to hear that cuz the doctor was one of the least-favorite, over-acted characters in this movie. I guess the actor just gave up after reading the script.
It was a gloomy, damp Saturday night, and what else was I supposed to do?
I went to the movies and noticed that I had only options. I had to watch were either this, or a weird Chinese documentary about Buddhist monks. Hmm, psychopathic killers, or monks...?
Anyways, as hesitant as I was, I was pretty damn bored, and anything that had any sort of entertainment value would have cheered me up.
It wasn't horrible. In fact, it wasn't bad. But it's not fantastic, let me tell you. It's not a Full Price.
Now that I got that out of the way, let's continue.
So yeah, the plot is that honeymooners played by Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich (whom you may notice from Resident Evil) go to a Hawaiian paradise, hoping the trip of their lifetimes. The perfect vacation spot they're headed for is isolated from the crowded islands which also makes it pretty challenging to get there. But it turns out that bloodthirsty murders are lurking in the depths of these forests, targeting couples.
Cliff and Cydney (the main characters) are stupid enough to go further and, on their way, they encounter some couples who appear to be very strange.
The script is very clever. It is completely capable of keeping the audience's attention, and makes you wonder what the hell is going to happen next. But for the way it was delivered, I really can't say the same thing. The story is very gripping, but some moments in the movie drag on forever.
However, the ending is kinda ridiculous. But I won't spoil it for you.
In my opinion, Steve Zahn was great in this movie. I'm not going to give away the twist at the ending, but it's pretty awesome.
The scenery in this movie is pretty spectacular, too. If you didn't go on a wild vacation this summer, consider this a sneak peek of what could've been like if you were actually there (well, besides the psychopathic murders).
What I'm doing right now is plain nitpicking, so don't be mad if you don't agree with me or anything.
All in all, this movie is pretty entertaining. The entire movie feels like a game of Clue; when you have no clue, it's really boring, but when you DO start getting some, it's pretty exhilirating. If I was a Spill crew, I'd give this somewhere in the realms of a Matinee, just because the ending is stupid.
If you have nothing to do, or just bored out of your mind, I'd recommend this to you.
Whoopsies, sorry for the mistake there. But in all honesty, I'm not the only one to blame. Those films are so much alike in their stories, characters, settings, and filmatography. They're both done by independant filmmakers, and they both have a rather simple storyline tackling human emotions and values of human life. If you've already seen one of those and didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't really recommend this to you.
The story is the kind we all know: "What would you do if you only had one week to live?" We've heard it, seen it, and know that the main character, Ben in this case, is faced with a tremendous problem and now has a short period of time to live. Of course, he/she will go do something that's out of the norm, and at the end, learn to appreciate life.
To be honest, that's all the movie is. I'm not going to apologize for not warning you with a spoilers' alert, because I honestly don't feel like you need one. After ten minutes in this movie, you'll figure out what's going to happen and where all the characters are going to end up.
Nevertheless, this film is certainly an entertaining little flick.
As a Canadian, I was pleasantly surprised by how beautifully they delivered the Canadian nature. Every single shot in the movie had Canada written all over it, and it was fun just looking at the pretty pictures when the plot was moving kind of slowly. Unlike "Once", the settings play a huge part in the story. The landscapes and rural towns are portrayed very realistically, and after watching the movie, you'll feel as if you've been on a trans-Canada tour. There's nothing flashy or flamboyant; everything you see defines Canada. "One Week" doesn't include numerous scenes in urban areas, like Vancouver and Toronto, but it just magnifies the mood the main character is in. I guess it's not that happy to be diagnosed with aggressive cancer, egh?
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the plot is extremely obvious and slow-moving. It's not that interesting and the characters are kind of shallow. There's an episode that happens to Ben while he's in Banff, and it's totally random and pointless, and it also makes his character less likeable. I wasn't also fond of Ben's pretentious fiance, especially how she didn't act properly after what Ben's done to her.
The ending, as obvious as it was, was also not powerful enough. I'm still not sure if Ben lived or died, and it left me feeling vague and unsatisfied. Do I appreciate life more? I dunno. But then again, I'm just a rebellious teenager who ignores all lessons from life, aren't I?
In conclusion, this movie had numerous minor flaws, and the plot itself comes off as being too much cliche. It really was just a beautiful slideshow of the Canadian landscape with some wonderful songs, but it's just not something worth your money. If you're a Canadian who's patriotic, I'd say go rent it. But otherwise, this borefest had me yawning constantly.
