Set to come out this August, we are finally starting to see some of the marketing for the new Conan movie. The movie stars Stargate: Atlantis alum Jason Momoa as everyone’s favorite Cimmerian.
Obviously he is no Arnold, but the merits of this casting choice really won’t to be known until we see the movie. Much of the other cast however, should be more familiar to you. Both Ron Perlman and Rose McGowan will both lend their talents for what seems like a good fit.
Well Lionsgate has released a teaser trailer and people are upset. The outrage come not from what they show in the teaser, but what they don’t. Take a look and see if you can figure it out…
Did you get it? Do you know what’s missing?
Of course you do.
It totally omitted the film’s villain – The Party Crasher.
The Party Crasher has been cast to play Khalar Singh, the movie’s antagonist. This is news we learned in May of 2010, and have since been patiently waiting to see footage. This is why, when we were delivered a teaser trailer that showed us nothing, we got upset.
We attempted to contact TPC, but he was too bust slaughtering film editors to be reached by phone.
Here’s to hoping the next trailer they release does a better job of portraying the true focus of the film, The Party Crasher.
I’m a huge fan of movies involving extra terrestrials, [Ed. – ET for Life!] and there here has been a whole slew of them in the past year. None though stood out to me, or left a real lasting impression. I either disliked the aliens in them, or the cast of human characters trying to survive against them. Out of District 9, Monsters, and Skyline – I really only took a liking to District 9. Monsters didn’t show me enough aliens and Skyline had too many idiotic humans in it. But then I watched Battle LA.
Battle: Los Angeles was basically a simple storyline with excellent visuals. But being simple didn’t by any means make it a terrible movie. By simple I mean “Aliens are here killing people. We had better kick their asses.” which makes up pretty much 85% of the movie, but all the fire fights between the marines and aliens never wore thin for me. It was spread out and the scenes in between gave chances (albeit sparse) for character development. They also gave a nice overview of the characters at the beginning.
The cast was pretty rounded, very well put together. You get to see Ramon Rodriguez in a not so annoying role as a young commanding officer, as opposed to his vomit-inducing portrayal of Leo Spitz in the crap pile that was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena were good, though both felt under-utilized. To their credit though, as civilians they didn’t bog the movie down at all and their characters actually enhanced scenes.
Even Michelle Rodriguez took a departure from her normal role as “Female Hardass Character who Yells a lot” in to a more realistic Air Force intel specialist who can fire a rifle. Still no ‘Damsel in Distress’, but something different for her. And then our hero of the movie, Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart was solid and believable as Marine Corp Staff Sargent Nantz, who was actually on his way out of the Corps when the alien aggressors launched their invasion. It’s his experience that gets our cast of characters moving.
The cast also includes a great young ensemble of actors as the grunts, including Cory Hardrict (Gran Turino), Noel Fisher (Terriers), and Will Rothhaar (Jack Frost). Hell, we even had child actor Bryce Cass, who was better than twenty Jake Lloyd‘s could have ever been!
Now I’m expecting a lot of people to ‘rabble rabble‘ about how cliché and melodramatic Eckhart’s couple of speeches to the troops are, but personally I had no problem with them. In terms of melodrama Independence Day still takes the cake on that one. And while I may feel the different about Battle: Los Angeles in about ten years, right now, I thought it was well done and heartfelt.
The movie was shot in a familiar way, the closest thing I can think of being Black Hawk Down, in terms of the urban warfare and house-to-house fighting. The camera utilized the ever-popular ‘shaky sense of urgency’ during the battle scenes, making you feel like you were in the middle of a firefight, actually watching the aliens landing in L.A. And their drone ships hovering all about the war-torn landscape of Los Angeles gave me goosebumps.
The aliens themselves overall were done pretty well. You only catch glimpses of them at first as they ambush our brave marines and seem nearly unkillable. After a certain point though, a weakness is obviously discovered, and then it’s game on.
The aliens reasoning for attacking Earth (which I won’t spoil) may initially sound stupid, but makes perfect sense once you think about it. If anyone out there is a fan of military movies, and alien invasions then this movie is the best of both worlds for you. Good pacing, great cast, and realistic looking effects.
It’s also very refreshing to see it win the weekend box office up against a variety of animated kids films and a Red Riding Hood-Twilight hybrid with a $36 million rake in. (Box Office Mojo)
For those of you Star Wars fans who don’t know about The Old Republic, it is the newest upcoming alternative to the ultra popular World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft is a MMORPG you’ve probably at least heard of, plenty a virgin has wasted their life on it, and many a marriage has been annulled because of it. Could Star Wars fans now be heading in the same direction? Will it matter if the game is as good the rumors say?
I’ve said since it was announced nearly three years ago that I would never play it due to time consumption exhibited by the World’s of Warcraft (or WoW) masses. After seeing the newest trailer however, which features actual game-play and voice over scenes, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to resist. At least I already accomplished the virgin part some years back, and I don’t have a marriage that can be annulled if I do become addicted. Check out the trailer below:
Fighting as Jedi or Sith? Starship combat? Multiple planets to explore?
Yes Please.
Depending on the price, they’ve already won half the battle with me. Plus, my boy Darth Malgus is in there. It will be interesting to see exactly how in-depth and immersive the game is given how long it has been in development (2008 to be exact). The voice over work may have something to do with it according to an article at Joystiq in 2009. 100 voice actors have performed for the game with over 1,000 four-hour sessions between them. Apparently every character in the game will have plenty to say.
That is one big pile of Sith
I am also very interested to see the story progress, as everything in the Old Republic comic books and novels is taking place either way before, or during ‘The Treaty of Coruscant‘, which is a cease-fire between the Republic and Sith Empire. We all know when this game becomes available the cease-fire will have been broken.
Regular readers of the site should already know my feelings on season 1 of the FX show Justified. I loved it. It was well written, excellently acted, and entertaining as hell. And it closed up with maybe the best season finale of any show since Dexter‘s fourth season. So far, through 4 episodes of it’s 2nd season we’ve seen a lot of new characters introduced, and what seems to be a promising new story arc. And while it’s been really good, it’s not been great. That is until the 5th episode aired on Wednesday night. This episode, titled Cottonmouth, is one of the single best mid-season episodes of any show I’ve ever seen. While premiers and finales are known for packing in a lot major events to kick off, or wrap up a story, here we see no less than 5 major plays made that will have effect on the rest of the season.
1. Arrested Development
Raylan visits Dewey Crowe in prison, at Crowe’s behest. Dewey is worried about getting shived and offers up a trade to Raylan – Info on the Bennetts for early release into a Half-Way-House. The scene opens with an absolutely awesome shot of Raylan sitting in the dark, the screen cap below does it no justice.
Once Raylan is back at the office, Arlo Givens shows up to return some of the money he stole, in hopes of having Raylan remove his ankle bracelet. The suspicions of Trooper Bergen about the missing Walt McCready‘s (murdered in the first episode by the Bennetts) government checks getting cashed, trigger Raylan to question Arlo about check cashing and gets a name – the now deceased Bowman Crowder. Raylan then proceeds to lock up his father. Now
2. The Dick Tase
The second event, and the one that has elicited an entire post over at Warming Glow, happens when Raylan goes to look into the check-cashing scheme in Harlan. The Crowder lead of course takes him to Boyd, who is not alone. Boyd is in distress, but chooses not to seek Raylan’s help, but instead gives him a name and sends him on his way. Raylan follows Boyd’s info to a man Winston Banks. Mr. Banks, who runs a religious ATV tour called “The Church of the Two-Stroke Jesus”, pulls a taser on Raylan once confronted. While being attacked however, Raylan manages to turn the attackers taser back on him…in the crotch.
(from Warming Glow)
This event leads Raylan and Trooper Bergen to believe that Walt is dead, most likely at the hands of the Bennetts, who are now in custody of Walt’s daughter Loretta. Combined with what Dewey told him, all signs point to the Bennetts being responsible for more than just slinging herb…
3. Always Be Cool
The third, and most exciting of these events revolve around everyone’s favorite Ex-Con, Boyd Crowder. This is where we see Boyd, being strong armed into robbing the coal mine, prove himself craftier than the average crook. Kyle and his cronies are determined to make Boyd part of their plan.
Upon learning that they expect him to kill Shelby, (Jim Beaver – Just one of many DEADWOOD alum to appear on the show) the manager at the mine, and suspecting they mean to end him as well, Boyd uses his cell to call the house, escaping the room to answer the phone. Boyd leaves the cell open and on the chair, bugging the room and hearing his suspicions confirmed as the others discuss their plans to end Boyd as well.
It’s around this time that Raylan pulls up to question Boyd about the Check-Cashing his brother used to do. Raylan immediately recognizes the ill-intent of Boyd’s guests and basically extends an offer of help. Boyd declines, passing up an opportunity to end the whole situation there. He has instead decided to rely and his own plan to sabotage the battery of the radio detonator they plan to use for the job, thus ensuring it doesn’t happen. When his cohorts though decide to move forward as planned anyhow, with out the battery, Boyd must quickly devise a new escape.
Once at the mine, as planned they break into the manager’s office, empty the safe, and grab the explosives. Boyd however loads some of the explosives into the cash bag. Once he takes Shelby into the mine, Kyle pulls his double cross and attempts to detonate the explosives. Which are in the money bag. Which is in his truck 5 feet away. In his attempt to kill Boyd and Shelby, Kyle instead blows up himself and his crew.
Well played Boyd.
Ava Crowder: Boyd’s Object of Desire/Sister In-Law/Room-Mate/Accessory After the Fact and Alibi.
Once home Boyd gives Ava $20k he kept from the holdup so she can fight off the bank from taking the house for a while. She is now an accessory to his crimes.
4. A Mother’s Love
While Boyd is explaining to Ava what went down at the mine, Dickie and Coover Bennett pay a visit to Winston Bank’s ATV warehouse to collect money owed them. Dickie then notices Marshall Raylan Givens sitting in the dark. Having now confirmed Raylan’s suspicion, they take off and empty-handed. Come morning over, they’re dirty Police Chief brother Doyle drops by their place with the family patriarch and mother: Mags Bennett. What transpires is something the likes of which haven’t been seen in Misery. Mags, enraged to find out that Coover and Dickie have been cashing Walt’s checks and raising the attention of the authorities, decides to teach a lesson to her dumber sons. Coover must now bear the brunt of his mother’s scorn.
“I’m saving your gun hand now.”
Wow. Coover already blames Raylan for all his problems since he is an idiot, so I’m sure he’ll blame Raylan for this too. Oh, a mother’s love…
5. Lortetta’s Knight in Shining Armor
Little Loretta McCready. Heir to the vast nothing-ness left by her father, now taken in by the very people who murdered him. Earlier saved by Raylan when he whisked her out of the trunk of a child molester, she now is surviving how she see fit and doing what her Daddy taught her – Selling weed. Raylan, now convinced that the Bennetts did in fact murder her father, but with no proof as of yet, visits Loretta and to her delivers a cell phone. With the phone, this promise:
[quote]”I kicked a hornet’s nest last night. And things may start to happen, and I need you to know, if you find yourself in trouble of any kind, you can call me. I will drop whatever I am doing and I will come for you.”[/quote]
BOOM! If that isn’t a promise of some Epic Fricking Heroics playing out, then I don’t know what is. This season is really picking up now and I can’t wait for Wednesday.
Deceived is the newest Star Wars novel to be released on March 22nd 2011. It is by Paul S. Kemp (Michigan resident! Whoo Hoo!) who has already written two other Star Wars Novels so far: Crosscurrent and the forthcoming Riptide. Deceived takes place in the Old Republic era to coincide with events that will take place in the soon to be released MMORPG. Check it out below:
The trailer seems to be a couple of clips from the first two ‘Old Republic’ trailers, while the last clip is entirely new to me. The story focuses on Darth Malgus, who is a pretty big bad ass, and based on an excerpt I read from Deceived, may have a bit more to his character than just a mindless Sith warrior. The video below is how the novel begins:
And here is yet another trailer for the Old Republic starring Darth Malgus. This guy can really take a beating. What happens to him at the end is why he has to wear his imitation Darth Vader mask in the Deceived trailer.
I can’t wait for the book to come out because Paul S. Kemp is a brilliant writer, especially in the Star Wars world. He has already shown that he can write a Sith character well beyond the generic bloodthirsty killer role they play in a lot of stories. Don’t get me wrong, Sith are bloodthirsty killers, but they all have a past. Kemp touched on this in his Crosscurrent with the Sith Lord Saes Rrogon. In one of the preview excerpts from Deceived, Malgus’s past life is delved into briefly, hopefully we get to see more in the rest of the book.
Looking back on my first Spiderman Suit article, I thought maybe I didn’t give enough choices in the poll and some people (*cough* Ms. Shaw) thought that the original suit should have been included. I agree and thought it would be fun not only to do another poll but take a look back at all of the other Spiderman suits from over the years. For better or worse.
And here we go:
Stealth Spidey, India Spidey, Spiderman 2099, Ben Reilly CloneElectro Insulated, Iron Spider, Black Armor Spidey, Silver Armor Spidey
Scarlet Spider, Cosmic Spidey, Black Suit Spidey, Future FoundationBaghead Spidey, Spider Thor, Spider Ham, Spider Carnage
And the best for last:
The Original Red and Blue! (And my favorite cover)
Whether there are too many choices or not enough please vote in the poll below!
Grizzly Bomb 