When I started this site last year, the dominating theme at the start had a lot to with an ‘about to be canceled’ series on FX titled Terriers. Despite abysmal ratings I was holding out hope that FX might be willing to renew for a 2nd season, a show that had really moved me. I was so in love with Terriers in fact, that I’d still have to say it was the best new show of 2010, even over things like Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead, and Justified, all which I adore. I wrote articles and e-mails and basically begged people to watch it, but in the end, it was all for naught. The lack of marketing, combined with the confusing nature of the few adds that had been put out ultimately doomed the show.
Daily Archives: December 3, 2011
Hero Express: Dark Knight Station – Big Prologue Announcements, Interviews and Possible Spoilers
Welcome to Dark Knight Station, the Hero Express‘s main stop for all the news on The Dark Knight Rises. We’ll keep you up to date on all the biggest bat-news coming straight from Gotham City.
Mind the gap and avoid the shadows; This stop is the Dark Knight Station for December 3rd, 2011.
Official Announcement for the IMAX Prologue – (IGN)
News that a 6-minute prologue of The Dark Knight Rises would play with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal at IMAX theatres has been pretty well-known for a while now, with rumours and talk about it going on for months, but now Warner Bros. has cemented it with an official announcement. The full transcript:
“Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Dark Knight Rises” — the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy — is one of the most anticipated films of 2012, but moviegoers won’t have to wait until next year to see the six-minute opening sequence of the film. The film’s prologue will be unveiled exclusively in select 70mm IMAX® theatres worldwide. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
The Prologue will be released in North America on December 16, and in the UK on December 21, 2011. Additional international dates vary by territory and will be announced soon.
In making the 2008 blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” Nolan was the first to use IMAX® cameras in a major motion picture release, and, as now, audiences were given an advance look at that film’s prologue months prior to the Summer 2008 opening. Nolan employed the extremely high-resolution cameras even more extensively on “The Dark Knight Rises”—including the film’s prologue—to achieve unprecedented crispness and clarity and a truly immersive experience for the moviegoers.
Christopher Nolan stated, “Our experience on ‘The Dark Knight’ shooting and projecting IMAX 15 perf 65mm/70mm film was inspiring. The immersive quality of the image goes beyond any other filmmaking tool available, and in revisiting Gotham, we were determined to shoot even more of the movie in this unique format. Giving the fans an early look at an IMAX sequence is a great way to draw attention to what I believe will be an incredible way to experience our story when it comes out next summer.””
The prologue is only set to play in select theaters, and the press release includes a list of all the theaters in North America and the UK where it will run, which you can check out at the bottom of the page. Make sure you are somewhere near one of those places when the day comes. I know at the strike of midnight on December 16th I’ll be at Scotiabank Theatre, cape and utility belt ready to go.
Continue reading Hero Express: Dark Knight Station – Big Prologue Announcements, Interviews and Possible Spoilers
‘Half-Life: Origins’ Fan Film is Pretty Neat
If you never got a chance to play the original Half-Life, you probably don’t realize the impact it had on the gaming community. The game featured a sense of immersion that was kind of groundbreaking to players and creators in 1998, and its developer Valve has held a longstanding reputation in the industry by consistently hitting that same mark with every one of their games since, a quality which few others have been able to match.
One of the major things that stuck out for players in Half-Life was the extended intro sequence that had you playing through protagonist Gordon Freeman’s slow commute to work, from the long train ride to the meandering, chatting co-workers in the physics lab. It goes without saying that it’s a fond memory for fans.
Director Brian Curtin, who you might be familiar with from his previous Half-Life fan film Beyond Black Mesa, is back with a commendable tribute to that very sequence. Combining live-action and some pretty swanky CGI for a home-made short, Half-Life: Origins is a brief callback to your first run-in with Black Mesa. It’s a nostalgic trip if you’ve had a chance to play the classic PC shooter, and even if it’s all new to you it’s definitely worth a look:
Hopefully it’s enough to tide you over while Half-Life 3 painfully remains a mystery.
#23 – Countdown to Christmas: BAD SANTA
Who knew that the Coen Brothers would be involved with a film as filthy as Bad Santa? Known for creating such elegant pieces of drama and such witty pieces of comedy, their name on a raunch fest like Bad Santa seemed unimaginable at first. Then, the movie was released to critical and commercial acclaim, and our light bulb moment had been reached.
Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, an alcoholic shoplifting Santa Clause, is every bit as raunchy and crude as you might think it’d be. Though with that raunchiness comes just as much heart and moral decency as any other Christmas movie. For those of you who don’t know, the plot revolves around two cons named Willie and Marcus (Tony Cox) pose as Santa Clause and his elf at a local mall to rob all of the stores on Christmas Eve. Everything goes smoothly until the security manager Gin (Bernie Mac) discovers their plan. While this shit is hitting the fan, Willie befriends a young boy known only as, The Kid (Brett Kelly).
Willie then gets involved romantically with The Kid’s mother Sue (Lauren Graham), more shit hits the fan, but it’s all really funny in that miserable kind of way.
Bad Santa works mostly because of how unlikable all the characters are besides The Kid. His roley-poley little body mixed with his innocent facial expressions are the ying to Billy Bob’s beer swigging yang. The two gel in an unlikely way that will warm your heart and possibly creep you out all at the same time.
Out of everybody involved though, it’s Tony Cox’s evil but wise Marcus that steals the show. With some smaller roles in films like Friday and Me, Myself, and Irene, his comedic timing is almost perfect, and he represents how evil Willie could be, but somehow has the heart not to be.
I’ll admit, I watched Bad Santa at far too young of an age (8 to be exact), but now, it’s a Christmas tradition for my friends and me. I mean, what other Christmas movie will make teenagers come over to your house?
4/5 Charlie Brown Trees.
For more COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS – Click it Here!
Also Check out our COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN…
Grizzly Bomb 