All posts by Stephen Sanchez

Movie Trailers

Spirit of Vengeance Trailer: Ghost Rider Rides Again! And Pees!

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Lets be honest about the first Ghost Rider movie not being very good. It failed me in almost every way. Sure Ghost Rider looked cool, but the story was weak, the villain was weak and Nic Cage was super weak. But hopefully all of that will change with the upcoming sequel that’s not a sequel called Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Now personally, I thought this is the type of movie that could have went straight to DVD but Hollywood has other plans. Ghost Rider has a new look in this one, his skull visage still aflame but completely charred black. He looks a lot more no nonsense as he thrashes bad guys with his chains even while they’re driving and spits bullets into their faces. That sounds terrible but just watch the trailer to see:

As you can see this one seems to be a bit more violent, which is good because there isn’t anything too cuddly and nice when it comes to Ghost Rider. For me he’s like the Punisher in supernatural mode. The part at the end with him peeing fire kind of killed it for me but I’ll still be at the theater checking it out when the time comes.

Movie News & Opinions

Ridley Scott and Blade Runner 2?

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Blade Runner was one of those movies everyone urged me to watch and it is always stuck with the moniker of “best Sci-Fi movie ever made”, which so many people dispute. I was of course one of the disputers saying it wasn’t that great after watching it a couple of years ago. After doing my Top Ten Killer Robots list however, I decided to watch the movie again, and this time I loved it. It was a great movie, with some great questions about what the phrase “to be human” really means. And it was absolutely way ahead of the times with the special effects in the movie. Los Angeles in Blade Runner was a place I definitely wouldn’t have minded seeing in real life. I won’t go so far to say it’s the best movie in the science fiction genre, but it is definitely one of the best.

And now Ridley Scott seems to be easing back into what made him a ‘most sought after’ director. Since delving back into the Alien world with his prequel Prometheus, Scott seems to think it’s time for him to bring another classic film with Blade Runner. Now at this point we aren’t sure if it’s going to be a prequel or a sequel to the first movie, I suppose either way they go has a bit of allure to it. Check out a little more info from Deadline below:

I’m not getting a clear sense at this point whether Scott intends to do a sequel or a prequel to the 1982 film that was loosely based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Also unclear is whether they start fresh or reach out to Harrison Ford. The original took place in dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, in which organic superhuman robots called replicants escaped and are hiding somewhere on earth.  Ford played Richard Deckard, a burnt out blade runner assigned to hunt them down. His tired life gets altered when he himself falls for one of the replicants and struggles to keep her from being destroyed.

At this point they could do a sequel with Harrison Ford as the Blade Runner that turned out (IN THE MOVIE ALL YOU GEEKS!) to be one of the Replicants that he was tasked in tracking down. Ford’s age factor could be explained that as a Nexus-7 model, Deckard the replicant is able to have a full life span of an ordinary human thanks to the advancements of the Tyrell Corporation. Or they could go completely the other way on that one and have him with a younger CG face as they did for Jeff Bridges in Tron: Legacy.

Another option is to have a sequel many years into the future with a new Blade Runner hunting a different group of replicants, which would seem like the easiest option. It’s always best to move forward and not have to trip over any continuity issues from the previous film. If Scott doesn’t mind navigating around continuity then he could do a prequel movie showing the development of the replicants and any problems that they had early on, or perhaps the mutiny of replicants that caused them to be banned on Earth. I favor the prequel treatment, because I’m always interested in the full story of vague, opening crawls in a movie. Plus Scott seems intent on doing prequels at the moment anyways.

What’s everyone else think? Has it been too long for a new Blade Runner movie or are you looking forward to this no matter what direction Ridley Scott goes with this new movie? I’m all for it as the first movie just brushed the surface of how replicants think and act when faced with the prospect of “retirement” or the end of their shelf life.

BladeRunner-Poster-German

Movie News & Opinions

Disney’s The Lone Ranger…. Dead or Alive?

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Not too long ago the Lone Ranger’s plug was pulled by Disney due to budget concerns. And by concerns I mean the film’s $250 million dollar budget. Right now I’m not even wondering whether or not the film will be made, I’m too busy wondering what in the hell could cost 250 mil in a movie about the Lone Ranger. Was there going to be a thousand horses in it? Cowboys and Aliens only had a $163 million budget (Box Office Mojo) and there were effin’ aliens in it and a cowboy with a wrist-blaster!

Apparently these are some of the things that were going to be in the movie via IGN:

THR says the werewolves and supernatural elements that were part of earlier drafts had already been removed from the script by the time Disney yanked the film, but that in its place are some hugely expensive railroad action sequences, set-pieces said to be the biggest train stunts ever planned. 

Director Gore Verbinski, who helmed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney, is the one the studio deems responsible for bringing down the budget. If he can’t then one option is replacing him with a director who can and/or reconceiving the project on a cheaper scale. Verbinski is said to have only reduced the $250 million budget by $6-8 million; Disney wants the budget at anywhere from $200-220 million, still a steep sum for a western based on a character that’s really only known to older audiences.

I never would have imagined that werewolves and railroad action scenes could cost so much. And I find it very interesting that Disney is placing the budget responsibilities on Gore Verbinski and effectively tying his hands. I mean the guy only brought them a couple billion dollars in from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. You’re welcome Disney!

I’m sure about $50 million would be going to Johnny Depp who would have been playing Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Native American sidekick. Am I the only one who sees this casting move as borderline retarded? Johnny Depp…. as a Native American named Tonto. Good gravy you suck Disney! Even Jay Silverheels who played Tonto in the 50’s was a Canadian First Nation and he made that shit work! I can see Disney having misgivings about the Lone Ranger since they’ve already got an obscure character coming to the theater in the form of John Carter. And by obscure I mean no one under the age of 27 knows much besides the names of these characters.  I think John Carter is more of a for sure thing as a sci-fi movie than the Lone Ranger as a western, so perhaps they’ll try to build off that success. Either way I’m not disappointed at all by the news of it’s possible demise.

lone tont

What does everyone else think? Would a Lone Ranger movie be any good? Is it still going to happen? The Mask of Zorro was a decent movie based off a masked character from that same era. I just can’t get enthused about it, but I hope there are some pro-Ranger fans out there so let your voice be heard! Or at least some Depp fans….

Movie News & Opinions

Children’s Hospital Returning For Season 4

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If you’ve never watched Children’s Hospital during the Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, then you’re missing out but still retain a greater amount of brain cells than me. Children’s Hospital is like Grey’s Anatomy mashed together with…. good God I don’t even know. It pretty much mocks crappy shows like E.R. and Greys Anatomy. Either way it’s hysterical, weird and awkward all at the same time. Will it change your life? No, but it sure makes it funny for about the fifteen minutes each episode runs. So it’s a good thing it’s coming back for a fourth season. Check it out via IGN:

Childrens Hospital is coming back for Season 4. Adult Swim announced today that a new season comprised of 14 episodes will go into production later this year, and will debut in 2012. All the main participants involved in the series are back, including creator/star Rob Corddry and his fellow executive producers Jonathan Stern and David Wain. The press release included some appropriately tongue-in-cheek comments from the EPs…

“I’m very pleased and honored by this announcement,” said Corddry. “I’m also very surprised, given that I write this show when I’m very, very drunk. Season 4 promises to be a cry for help.”

I have no doubt that Rob Corddry really does write Children’s Hospital when he’s drunk. If he wrote it sober the show would be completely unwatchable. You can’t just soberly think up two brothers who are clowns fighting over one of the brothers shooting a porno in the hospital. If you do then you’re completely mental and need help. But you can watch those events unfold on TV without being called mental, plus you can watch it sober and it’s still funny!

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Daredevil + New Avengers = Awesome?

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I’m a little torn on Daredevil joining up with the New Avengers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the red son-of-a-gun and the idea of the Avengers having as many prominent heroes on their roster as the JLA does, but it seems a bit off.

To me, Daredevil is one of the street level heroes and that is his domain. I don’t see him able to handle foes of the caliber that we’ve been seeing in Fear Itself, in the midst of which he will make his debut. For example: Do you all think the D-man could take out a Nazi Mech? I think it’d be tough but he makes it look like it’s as easy as slipping on your shoes. Many thanks to CBR for the preview pictures!

Despite what I think I’m going to embrace this thing. I’m loving the hell out of the new Daredevil comic out there brought to us by Mark Waid and I think DD is on the right track now after having a rough last decade. Don’t forget Matt Murdock had to go through a public outing of his secret identity, a divorce, prison time and demonic depression. It’s about time the guy has something to fall back on like the protection of the Avengers. Look to see the Man Without Fear avenging against the Serpent in New Avengers #16!

Movie Trailers

New Creepy Trailer – The Woman in Black (Starring Daniel Radcliffe)

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I can’t tell whether I want to see this movie because it looks legitimately good, or if it’s to see if Daniel Radcliffe can have a career after his decade long stint as Harry Potter. I think he can if he just doesn’t wear glasses again. Ever. There’s not an opportunity to really see him acting in this trailer, but he sure does a good job looking horrified….not that it counts for much.

Here’s a short plot description from the Jane Goldman written script:

Young lawyer Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) leaves his son in London to settle the legal affairs of the recently deceased Alice Drablow. He discovers a series of inexplicable accidents and suicides have forced the parents of her village to barricade their children indoors, as if protecting them from an unseen foe. When Arthur stays the night all alone at the Drablow’s foreboding house, he hears the screams of a drowning child and sees decaying children listlessly wandering the marshes. He will soon discover these haunting figures share the same date of death, and the same killer.

Sounds pretty jacked up. But watch the trailer to get a real tingling down your spine:

http://youtu.be/7lReemWmO5o

Yeah, I hate that effin’ monkey with the maracas. He can go to hell. But this movie looks like it’s worth a watch. The movies have been saturated with a plethora of ghost/haunting movies since The Sixth Sense, and the majority have sucked it pretty hard. So let’s find out if the adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same name is any good come 2012.