For fans of the Halo universe, these past few weeks have been nothing less than a conglomeration of anticipation and teasing. The Forward Unto Dawn series released its first full-length episode instead of the short vignettes we’d received before, and NewEgg.com ran an incredible sale of $15 off the pre-order (if you missed out, sucks to be you).
Now the live-action trailer for Halo 4 is out, and like the previous live-action trailers before, it does not fail to grip the viewer with its intensity even in such a short amount of time. The trailer, entitled “Scanned,” features a captured Master Chief being tortured in some way by the new enemy gamers will face in Halo 4:
The trailer was produced by David Fincher, that guy who made those awesome films like Fight Club, Se7en, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Tim Miller directed the trailer, pairing with Fincher as he had previously worked on special effects for Fincher’s Tattoo. The two delivered Halo fans an impressive piece of artistry here that again only makes us more anxious for the game’s release.
Though we love these live-action trailers, the question amongst gamers still remains; will this new “ancient enemy” be a worthy foe like the Covenant have been for the past 10 years, or will they just be something to roll our eyes at? The enemy leader in this trailer appears to be quite threatening (anyone who can capture Master Chief definitely shouldn’t be underrated). Hopefully, the game creators have integrated the race deftly into the timeline, canon, and framework of preceding Halo lore.
Creepy, dude.
We’ll find out how everything is presented in only two weeks. If you haven’t already, make sure to ask off work for November 6, when the regular and limited editions of Halo 4 will be released so you can game the day away.
Can’t wait until Hitchcock with Anthony Hopkins is released? If you have access to HBO and are free tomorrow, you can watch another interpretation of the Master of Suspense’s life.
The Girl premieres as a HBO Films exclusive on October 20 at 9PM/8Central and focuses on the relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds actress Tippi Hedren. Starring Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock, Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren, and Imelda Staunton as Alma Hitchcock, this film dares to entertain the rumors that Hitchcock became infatuated with his leading ladies in one way or another.
If you compare the acting talent from Hitchcock to the acting talent in The Girl, it’s nearly impossible to say which ensemble will do better. Hopkins and Jones are probably the best choices we could think of to ever depict this great director on-screen. Pitting Mirren against Staunton as Hitchcock’s wife just seems mean, as both women have had long, successful acting careers. And we don’t doubt both Johansson and Miller will be stupendous as the leading ladies of the films being made within the films.
The most stark contrast between the two trailers, though, is how different in tone these two movies appear to be. The big-budget version with Anthony Hopkins has a comedic aspect to its drama, where Hitchcock’s snarky British humor is revealed with lines such as “try the finger sandwiches – they’re made of real fingers.” This HBO interpretation, however, does not indicate anything more than tension between the three main characters, focusing instead on Hitchcock’s questionable fidelty to his wife and the consequences thereof. Both facts about Hitchcock are historically accurate (his humor and his alleged infatuation with his female stars).
Ultimately, we think it will come down to the quality of the script and each story, as well as the production quality of both versions. Will they both stand strong in their interpretations of Hitchcock, or will one shines out as the more professional, well-made of the two?
[tabgroup][tab title=” Gangster Squad “] Inspired by a true story from the 1940s and 50s, Gangster Squad is about the Los Angeles Police Department putting together a small squad of policemen tasked with the goal of keeping East Coast mobs out of their city’s streets.
The cast list is impressive, including the acting veteran Sean Penn and the recent favorites Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. With a setting and tone much like the video game L.A. Noir, we’re excited to see how this one turns out.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, and Sean Penn
Release Date: January 11, 2013
[/tab][tab title=” The Lone Ranger “]
Tonto and John Reid go back a long way… like to the 1940s. And now they’re making a comeback in Walt Disney’s version of their story with a new twist – Tonto is going to recount the American Old West adventures that made John Reid into the fighting-for-justice legend we all know him to be [SuperHeroHype].
With a winning combination of Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer (they made the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films), we’re expecting lots of humorous adventures, entertaining fight sequences, and interesting lore. Also, Johnny Depp’s crow headpiece is pretty wicked.
Director: Gore Verbinski
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Ruth Wilson, and Helena Bonham Carter
Release Date: July 3, 2013
[/tab][tab title=” Broken City”]
New York City’s mayor appears to have done well for the city since he was elected, but he has one personal problem: his wife is sleeping around. So the mayor hires an ex-cop to track down the man she’s cheating with. However, the situation escalates when the ex-cop finds out that there’s more to the mayor’s situation (and his political games) than he’s letting on.
Audiences will undoubtedly be tired of politics by the time this film comes out, but maybe Marky Mark’s ambition to take down a conniving politician will be just what some Americans want at that point.
Director: Allen Huges
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Release Date: January 18, 2013
[/tab][tab title=”The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2″] After several years out of the spotlight, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman again, this time as a middle-aged man still ready to take on the new criminals that have arisen in Gotham City. But this time Batman’s being called a murderer, and a warrant is out for his arrest. Superman claims he must follow the law and find Batman, but will he?
The story is nothing new, as superheroes have been called vigilantes and murderers before, and there have been show-downs between Batman and Superman in the past, but judging from the trailer we’re guessing DC Comics isn’t going to drop the ball on this one, especially if Part One was any indication of how good the finale will be.
Director: Jay Oliva
Stars: Peter Weller, Michael McKean, Wade Williams, Ariel Winter, David Selby, and Gary Anthony Williams
Release Date: Winter 2013
[/tab] [tab title=”Movie 43″]
The most we can say about this movie is that it’s a comedy featuring a large, all-star cast that will be “intertwining different tales” [IMDb]. It was also going to be called Red Band at one point. If you’ve seen Love Actually or Valentine’s Day, it’s supposedly something like that, but with a far more adult approach, in all aspects of the word.
Director: PatrikForsberg, Peter Farrelly, Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, and several more…
Stars: Chloe Grace Moretz, Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Elizabeth Banks, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Kate Winslet, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Pratt, and many more…
Release Date: January 25, 2013
His influence on Hollywood horror, suspense, and thriller films is legendary, so much so that he’s been dubbed “The Master of Suspense.” He worked with hundreds of famous names during the production of his movies, acting and producing talent alike. His name is known worldwide. And yet no one thought to make a movie about this great man as a director and person.
Now we’re getting two of them; Hitchcock and The Girl – We’re only concerned with the first one for now though…
Directed by Sacha Gervasi, Hitchcock will get a limited release in U.S. theaters this November. Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville, the film follows the story of Hitchcock and his wife as he struggles to make the movie Psycho in 1959. As if Hopkins and Mirren are not going to be enough joy to watch on-screen, they are joined by Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins; who of course played Norman Bates.
Hitchcock is supposedly going to be “a love story”, but we’re guessing from the trailer there will be a lot more to the film than hearts and kisses.
Hitchcock has elements of not just love between Hitchcock and Reville, but also some delightful hints of an underdog story. According to Hollywood history, most people thought Hitchcock was mad to try a “low-class” horror film like Psycho, a situation which this trailer clearly exemplifies. In addition, we see the typical struggle between an artist determined to go after his passion of creating a film and the producers and accountants who insist that it will be a financial flop.
Judging from the trailer, this film appears to have something everyone will enjoy. There’s the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife for the romance lovers, and there’s the business and social tensions that arise around Hitchcock’s decisions for those of us who love a good drama. Even more than that, though, will be the nostalgia this film brings to all film buffs. Oh, and let’s not forget the dry British humor Hopkins already delivers so well in the three short minutes of the trailer.
Seriously, the breasts are there for a reason, darling.
Make sure to add Hitchcock to your list of movies to see this year — fortunately, you won’t have to wait very long. In the meantime, check out this PSA in theatres now that Hopkins filmed as Hitchcock, begging movie-goers to avoid cell phone usage during films:
You may not have heard of all of the characters in our Halloween countdown this year, and that’s okay. We hope the articles have been enlightening if that’s the case. But our next character is certainly one that everyone is well acquainted with, unless for some reason you’ve been living under a rock your entire life.
Are you ready for another Quentin Tarantino film to blow your mind and possibly make you question your sanity? We are. Definitely.
The second trailer for Django Unchained was released today, and now we’re wishing that time travel really was a thing so December would be here already.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
The film is set in the pre-Civil War era and tells the story of Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave living in the Deep South who is sold to Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is actually a bounty hunter, and offers to help free Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo Dicaprio) as long as Django agrees to help him kill off a gang of killers known as the Brittle Brothers.
For me, seeing Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio side-by-side immediately made me think, “WTH?” But from what we can see in the trailer, it appears that they all have great chemistry, especially between Foxx, DiCaprio, and Waltz. Hill of course has one of his snippets of funny inserted into a rather bleak and upcoming KKK-type raid, and Jackson always seems to be a BAMF no matter what role he plays. DiCaprio’s performance will probably disgust me because he’s such a good actor (and he’s the bad guy, so there’s that).
The trailer reveals an odd-yet-expected-because-it’s-Tarantino mixture of spaghetti western mixed with slightly modern dialogue and lots of gun shooting and explosions. The costumes and sets appear to be period, though, so as not to make it too funky. And Django wants everyone to know his name is spelled D-J-A-N-G-O, where “the ‘D’ is silent.”
Grizzly Bomb 