Daily Archives: July 11, 2012

Movie News & Opinions

Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold Rebooting ‘Vacation’?

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As we approach the 2012 Comic-Con, we must remember that there is other news out there that impacts the world that might not be reported. However, since I do not have the interest nor intelligence to write anything political or serious in nature, we will settle for some movie casting news. Perhaps the return of National Lampoon’s Vacation?

The Hollywood Reporter is…uhh…reporting, that Ed Helms is in negotiations to star in the reboot (Hollywood loves originality) for the Vacation series but with an added twist: he would not be Clark Griswold but he would take over as Rusty Griswold as he brings his family in the mix of shenanigans and mishaps and, let’s face it, awesomeness that comes from these movies.

The writers involved are none other than hot duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein of Horrible Bosses fame (although Daley will always be Sam Weir from Freaks and Geeks) but no director as of yet but I am sure if Helms does sign up, that will be no issue at all. Obviously the idea may not be totally original but I dig the idea of Rusty taking over and Helms can definitely hold attention on the big screen as long as he has good support around him to play off of (see: The Office or The Hangover). As long as Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo shows up then sign me up. Although 10 bucks says that Kate Upton is involved as random fantasized object of affection if they play by the same formula. I’m calling it right now.

I had to find a picture of her with a Tigers hat, don’t worry I’ll make it up at the end

On a sidenote, Ed Helms is apparently working on the Office, shooting a movie with Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd right now, filming the Hangover III in September, and supposed to do this movie in the spring? Anyone want to venture a guess that maybe he won’t be full time on the Office at this rate? Something to chew on because Lions Gate is on the Rudd/Poehler movie, Warner Bros (New Line specifically) is behind the Hangover and the Vacation series but we know that NBC show is produced by Universal who typically will not loan out stars in the middle of the television shooting season. I know the article says that they will shoot the movie after the Office wraps its latest season but I wanted to throw it out there. Stir the pot if you will.

Now, for the rest of you pervs, here’s your obligatory Kate Upton awesome pic. And no, she will not ruin Justin Verlander. That’s just stupid.

POP CULTURE

The GrizzlyBomb 2012 Comic-Con Preview!

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It is that time of the year again and it is time to revel in the wonders that is the San Diego Comic-Con 2012! One of the biggest things this year for our site is that we will actually be in attendance and representing GrizzlyBomb as we go to the biggest place where news on comics, television, movies, and video games breaks every minute from July 12th-15th and of course we will document it all. We are going to be on the show floor and I will be your guide and your way in to panels, booths, and probably pictures of the lovely booth babes so please visit as much as you can during the next week because we’re going to be knee-deep in some fun stuff.

Over the years, the panels have become some of the biggest places where announcements are made, stars have shown up, great Q&As have been done so we are going to do a preview on what we think will be some heavy hitters and must sees in San Diego.

Continue reading The GrizzlyBomb 2012 Comic-Con Preview! →

POP CULTURE

Found Footage Festival UK Tour Review

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The place. Birmingham UK. The venue. The Electric, the UK’s oldest working cinema. The event. The Found Footage Festival. The person going. Myself (hello there!). So what I did there was create some tension by shortening this piece into key headers. Worked quite well I thought! Anyway Birmingham is not really a place I’m a big fan of. Sure if you like getting drunk and not sleeping it’s the perfect place to hang out, but for me I found it a wee bit to noisy (maybe I’m to old!).

Continue reading Found Footage Festival UK Tour Review →

Movie News & Opinions

Need for Speed Movie Set For 2014

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Video-game-to-movie adaptations started in the early 90’s, with Super Mario Bros. Until recently, those movies had an uncanny tendency to flop, hard. However, with Tomb Raider and Resident Evil movies garnering much success, film studios decided it’s a good idea to invest in adaptations again. Hell, Ubisoft set up an entire studio just to produce movies based on their own games.

And of course, they’re never popular with the critics, but as long as they make money, and are remotely entertaining, who really cares?

Unless they’re directed by this guy. I hope he isn’t up to anything lately. Wait, he is.

EA also thought this was a good idea, and decided to sell the movie rights to Need for Speed. DreamWorks execs, perhaps high on coke and feeling overconfident, bought the property. Now, they have announced a release date.

On February 7, 2014, we will get a chance to watch a movie about cars with zero storyline (which in itself is a major understatement). Trust me, I know my Need for Speed games. When you talk about NFS, you don’t talk about their storylines. There was no plot in the first place. If there was any, it mainly revolves around you being a racer, and your need to win money and earn recognition so you can race against an asshole (Underground, Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, Pro Street), who probably screwed you over earlier in the game (Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon).  There are also hot female sidekicks solely for the sake of making teenage boys horny. It’s guilty pleasure when the horrible storyline is in a racing game, not so much when it’s in a movie.

In case you didn’t know how bad the acting and writing were.

There were a couple of times where EA decided to go with different plots. In Undercover, you play as an undercover officer who is trying to infiltrate a gang, or something. It doesn’t really matter. You race, and then your boss (played by Maggie Q) orders you to take some people out. After a while, you find out that your boss is actually a mole, and you take her down. Wow, that took stupidity to a whole different level.

I never quite understood EA’s logic. Why bother shooting live-action scenes when nobody really cares about the storyline? All that waste of money should have went to my bank account. You know, someone who actually needs the money.

And The Run. How can I possibly forget about this atrocity? This game actually has a negative value of plots. I didn’t know that was even possible until this game was released. Basically, you play this guy Jack, who is in a lot of debt. Jack’s ex-girlfriend (portrayed by Christina Hendricks) tells him that there’s this cross-country race which can net him a whole lot of money. Jack races to pay off debt. Jack pays off debt by winning the race. Seriously, that is it. It’s not a joke. How EA managed to get Christina freaking Hendricks involved is just mind-baffling. I swear to god someone must be holding her husband, or her dog, hostage. No amount of money can convince anyone to be involved in the project. It’s that bad. Don’t believe me? I dare you to watch an entire playthrough of the game and tell me that there is a plot.

Yes, this Christina Hendricks. THE Christina Hendricks who is on Mad Men.

We don’t need any more street racing movies. We have The Fast & The Furious for that purpose. Please for the love of god, don’t do this. Don’t make me suffer through an hour and half of torture.

*gun cocks*
Not Dr Kronner: Jason, you will watch the movie, and you will write a review for us.
Jason: How the hell did you even…
Not Dr Kronner: Shhhhhhhh. If you don’t follow my orders word for word, you will be swimming with the fishes.
Jason: You maybe able to kill this body of flesh, but you can never kill my soul.
Not Dr Kronner: …
Jason: Ha!!! Now you have no leverage over me!!!
Not Dr Kronner: I shall kill this kitty instead.


Jason: What? You don’t kill no kitties. YOU’RE A MONSTER!!!!
Not Dr Kronner: You’re gonna do it now?
Jason: *in tears* Do what?
Not Dr Kronner: Watch the movie and write a review for us.
Jason: Yes. *sniffs* Just don’t kill the kitty.

When the movie is released, you may return to Grizzly Bomb for a full-length review, even though I have no idea how to write a movie review. I’m not the one with the gun. Dr Kronner did not, in any way, force me to do this. I am doing it voluntarily, for you guys and gals, so you won’t have to suffer through the movie.

Sorry, I just had to.

Movie News & Opinions

Michael Fassbender Will Star In “Assassin’s Creed”

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Assassin’s Creed is one of those magnificent games that manages to pack together a high concept, dense, and intricately woven story, with heavy mythology and symbolism, and still manages to be a commercial success. I suppose the difference between games and other mediums, is that with a game, you can skip the story if you like, and focus solely on the killing and whatnot. You’d be doing yourself a huge disservice, as the AC storyline is one of the better science fiction stories being told in gaming, or any media today.

The first game is initially about you being the descendant of an ancient league of assassins, reliving your genetic memories via a virtual reality machine that can access historical details otherwise obscured or lost to time. The repercussions of your discoveries, and the true intent of the scientists putting you through these experiments is what soon becomes captivating, along with the seemingly anachronistic parallels between the past and the present. Eventually the back story becomes the main story, and in the games sequels it’s expanded greatly, and really makes you wonder just what the hell is going on.

So with much optimism, I’m glad to say that Michael Fassbender, who some of you might recognize as David from Prometheus, or Magneto from X-Men: First Class, has been cast in the lead role for the film. It’s not confirmed if he’ll actually be playing Desmond Miles, the lead from the game, but one could presume so. Speaking briefly on the casting of Fassbender is Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet, via Coming Soon:

“Michael Fassbender was our first choice. Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.” 

For me, even though the game is a lot of fun, I’d rather just watch the brilliant story play out, which is why a movie is such a great idea. Historical fiction is fairly popular right now, and even though The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure and films of that ilk are gaining years in age, all it would take is something like Assassin’s Creedto blow up and get everybody excited about how awesome history is again. I can’t wait to see this thing, and I should really get around to finishing the last 2 games in the series, before 3 comes out, and so should you!