All posts by Chris Tansuche

TV

Joss Whedon’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Gets A Title Change

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It looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more. Well at least the title is no more. According to EW.com, apparently there comes news that the title is being changed to (or at least referred to for the time being as) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While we can all debate why, they also included a show summary that everyone can read up on before we debate this title:

[quote]

Joss Whedon (MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shows us not all heroes are super with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet, the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). They’ll be joined by civilian new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual – of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents – that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.

Executive Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb (Smallville, Lost, Heroes) comes Marvel’s first live-action TV series, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

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agent of shield
Credit: nerdlunch.net – Also not a photo from set…

So let’s break it down quickly: I think it’s an odd move. I mean, it shouldn’t be surprising because Marvel wants to tag their branding on everything now (Marvel’s The Avengers ring a bell?) but it’s just too much at this point. Plus just saying S.H.I.E.L.D. would have just made enough waves as a short and efficient attention grabbing title. EW speculates because ABC might want to separate its title from FX’s The Shield but I can’t buy that because the series isn’t running anymore and enough time should have passed so confusion would not be made. Even the ‘Agents of’ part comes off as redundant because who else would we be following in S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Janitors of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Real Housewives of S.H.I.E.L.D.? (Crap, call Bravo now and tell them to stop that idea from getting on the air.) Regardless, this is all done for the advertisers as Joss & ABC prepare the pilot to show off in May to generate some ad sales so who knows, we might get the title change back or perhaps something more ridiculous might be in hand. Although does it matter? We could probably just stop and declare this the best pilot of the fall season and they could name it whatever they want because even an appearance from Hasselhoff as a Nick Fury doppelganger couldn’t stop the me from watching.

TV

Arrested Development: Kristen Wiig, Tony Wonder, and the Workaholics

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The most recent winner of Vulture’s Sitcom Smackdown (Reader Bracket) is Arrested Development edging out The Simpsons to be named the greatest sitcom of the last 30 years…by popular vote. That’s still something right? Possibly fueled by it’s impending return, AD seems to be as popular as ever, and for hits that reason we thought it was about time we got caught up on some of the latest news surrounding the shows resurrection. After all, in less than two months, we’ll be again enjoying probably one of the best comedies to grace television of all time. That’s right. I went there.

Continue reading Arrested Development: Kristen Wiig, Tony Wonder, and the Workaholics →

Movie News & Opinions

First Look at Ashley Greene in New Horror Film ‘Random’

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A lot of actors and actresses get pigeon-holed into certain roles after a while, and after the Twilight movies Ashley Greene is pretty much known as ‘the girl from Twilight’. Whether that’s fair or not, considering it was a popular franchise that has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars with each movie, it tends to overshadow her other roles in The Apparition or even a stint on ABC’s ill-fated Pan Am. With her newest role, she seems to want to shake that and prove she can pull off the villain. First evidence? Try Random‘s first promotional picture below, provided from Entertainment Weekly:

Ashley Greene

This isn’t the Ashley Greene America knows, that’s for sure. In Random, she plays Violet, who is the leader of a group of outcasts that terrorize a college student that is alone on campus during Thanksgiving break. The movie also stars Lucas Till, most recently Havok from X-Men: First Class and Haley Bennett of The Hole and The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Not much is known other than what we have from EW, but Greene made it known that she wanted to inhabit this role, even to the point of pulling a Rooney Mara a la The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and wanting to get the piercings for real. That didn’t happen, but she still managed to research her new role intensely to make sure she brings the right character alive to the screen. She’s definitely got the creepy, emo, goth vibe down so she’s looking on her way when this horror thriller movie comes out later this year.

Naturally, in case you forgot, she does not look like this normally. She did a Sobe ad a few years ago. In body paint. You’re welcome.

Ashley Greene

Movie Trailers

6 Fast 6 Furious Has a Longer Trailer; Also Defies Logic and Physics

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That’s right people, just when you think you can escape Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, they decide to buckle up and give you Fast & Furious 6. Everyone saw the ridiculousness of the trailer that was done during the Super Bowl but you’re in for a treat. You think having a tank and a car exploding out of the nose of an airplane was all you were going to get before Memorial Day 2013? That would be wrong my friends, because they released the full extended look trailer on the internet. It’s below, so watch that and I’ll give my comments afterwards. Try not to run out and buy a 24-pack of Mountain Dew afterwards by the way.

This movie is basically caffeine and video games with a dash of tearing a physics book in half, wrapped up into one crazy movie. Admittedly, I enjoy the Fast & Furious movies. They are easy fluff that I can sit down and watch without having to think. Granted, mostly because the script never bothers to think at all but Fast Five was actually extremely entertaining. Anyways, we see the return of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) as a possible villain and the addition of Gina Carano as well to beat up everything in her path as the new right hand woman to Dwayne Johnson’s agent character.

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So basically we get London, Luke Evans as the main baddie, the captain guy from The Raid: Redemption, planes, tanks, and automobiles. And a lot of stupidly awesome stunts that would wreck a person in real life. Luckily, in movie world, it looks amazing with what they are able to pull off. Justin Lin, who directed Better Luck Tomorrow, a great indie movie, before he became the go-to guy in destroying cars, is at the wheel again for this movie and now has directed the last four Fast & Furious movies. He has definitely got a great eye for set pieces and this movie is no different. Makes you wonder what he’d do with the Terminator 5 movie…

Anyways, this movie comes out on Memorial Day weekend 2013. Yeah, it won’t be poignant or deep but man, it’ll be a helluva ride. That’s right, I just about ended this article with a cliche. But hey, if the above picture can have Paul Walker playing white boy, the token asian character, the rapper/actor and his R&B singer/actor, with the model/actor and Vin Diesel crossing his arms not smiling, we should all embrace the cliche train.

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Behold the wonder that is the Diesel and exotic cars!!!!

Movie News & Opinions

Captain America: Winter Soldier – Cap Finds His New Leading Lady…

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Some big casting news on the Captain America: Winter Soldier front as it looks like Steve Rogers has found his new leading lady. According to reports, Emily VanCamp of Revenge fame has scored the coveted leading role for the new Marvel film.

This comes off the heels of the news that Hayley Atwell will NOT be returning to the sequel, which is sad but necessary considering she’d be about 90 in the sequel. Still, it would’ve been great to see Cap get some closure with her Peggy Carter character, especially after a great deleted scene from the Avengers where he sees her file and lets it linger as the scene documents his struggle to adjust to modern times.

emily-vancamp-01-hsss431

Regardless, this should be a good addition for the cast, in which she shall see Anthony Mackie playing Falcon and a possible return for Bucky (Sebastian Stan) if the storyline holds with the comic version of Winter Soldier. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are also rumored to be in the story as well, so we should expect the good ol’ Avengers team crossovers still taking place to connect these Phase 2 movies into the Avengers sequel.

Anthony-Mackie-Falcon

Although I have not seen Revenge, I keep hearing good things about it (well, at least the first season). I do remember VanCamp from Everwood so it’s just fun to see that she has slowly graduated from a WB show, to headlining an ABC show, to now the female lead in a huge big budget Marvel movie. She should be a good choice for the role and will be interesting to see what character she will play. Sharon Carter might ring a bell, but whether they reposition her as a relative to Peggy or someone else, I guess time will tell. The directors are Anthony and Joe Russo, who come in with an Arrested Development background (or at least that’s what I choose to reference them to) and the release date will be April 4, 2014. This will follow Iron Man 3 this summer and Thor: The Dark World  in November. Guardians of the Galaxy, helmed by James Gunn, being the final piece of the Phase 2 puzzle coming out in 2014 before we get Avengers 2. Ant-Man has been confirmed as the start of Phase 3, with them gunning at a late 2015 release for the Edgar Wright film.

Movie News & Opinions

World of Warcraft Movie Rolls Big; Loots Duncan Jones as Director

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Remember the World of Warcraft movie? It was supposed to be done by Sam Raimi, only to have everyone’s dreams crushed when he went to do Oz: The Great and Powerful and said at Comic-Con 2012 that they had to go to a different director? I thought that was pretty much the death knell for the PC game turned hopeful movie franchise. Raimi would’ve been perfect for the director spot as it would have infused the right blend of action, fantasy and comedy into the world of Azeroth. Well, we might be in luck because it looks like Blizzard scored a new director and it’s a pleasant surprise.

© 2010 Vendome PicturesAccording to the Hollywood Reporter and Collider, Duncan Jones has taken the reins as the director of the World of Warcraft movie. While he is known to some as the son of David Bowie, he has created a name for himself as one of the best up-and-coming directors with great movies such as Moon and Source Code on his resume. This will be his biggest project to date and will definitely launch him to the top of everyone’s directorial list if this pans out. I think it’s a great choice as he’s a pretty avid gamer and his ability to tell an entertaining story with some high concept plots, judging by his previous movies, shows he has the chops to handle an ambitious project such as this one.  Plus, he is definitely happy to take on the challenge of making the first good video game to movie project ever noting this on his Twitter:

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 31, 2013

He will be working off a script from Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond), who took over after the first draft was done by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan). Since Duncan Jones wrote Moon and Source Code, it wouldn’t shock anyone if he also took a few stabs at the script himself. No one really knows what the script will be following, but I imagine/hope it will probably follow Arthas and his descent and transformation into the Lich King, which technically took place in Warcraft III. It would seem to be the story that would make the most sense in terms of establishing the franchise because it sets up the game of World of Warcraft. 

The Lich King
The Lich King

However, since there are SOOO many characters and storylines in the Warcraft world, one can only guess what they actually will do for the silver screen. There is so much canon and characters out there in the Warcraft universe that they could honestly follow Thrall or the Dark Portal storyline. The big rumor is that it will be from the Alliance perspective, specifically the human side. Again, I’m rooting for the fall of Arthas because that would set up so much but we shall see. They are tentatively saying that this movie will be released in 2015, which will make the year a very crowded slate with Star Wars: Episode VII, The Avengers 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, possibly a Justice League movie too, so that might be the summer to rule all.

wow movie 2
Something to look forward to seeing more of in 2015…

Also, we know that World of Warcraft game has to end soon. Deathwing is down for the count, the old gods are dwindling in numbers and we’re pretty much down to Sargeras as the big baddie that needs to be revealed. It’s only a matter of time before we finally get to deal with the leader of the Burning Legion so it might be time to wind it down for the almost decade old MMORPG. Plus, with Blizzard working on their next project, Titan, one could assume that 2015 ties the last expansion (or the end) of WoW with the movie? Time will tell but man, this news does excite me. Not to the point where I want to fire up WoW again (I’m retired) but maybe I’ll give Warcraft III another go-around for nostalgia’s sake.