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Movie News & Opinions

CCI 2012: Warner Bros. to Showcase ‘Man of Steel’, ‘The Hobbit’, and ‘Pacific Rim’

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Warner Bros. Pictures has announced its full line-up at Comic-Con International which includes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Man of Steel and Pacific Rim. If you would like to know more about back stories or previous news and information please check out our previous articles below:

‘Pacific Rim’: Giant Robots Vs. Giant Monsters!

The Hobbit in 48fps Demos Film Evolution, Pissed Some People Off

Trailer is Here for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

Hero Express

A full description of the WB Comic-Con Showcase below courtesy of SuperHeroHype, with pictures provided by C Tan at the Con (unless otherwise noted):

Warner Bros. Pictures will once again have a major presence at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, including appearances by fan-favorite stars and filmmakers from some of the Studio’s most anticipated films. Comic-Con attendees will also be treated to never-before-seen footage, including some that will be shown nowhere else. Talent from the films will also be on hand to answer questions, sign autographs, and more.

On Saturday, July 14th, in Hall H, beginning at 2:30 p.m., Warner Bros. Pictures will showcase a number of the releases upcoming from the Studio and its partners at Legendary Pictures, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The special star-studded presentation also holds some surprises for the 6,500-plus fans in the convention’s largest presentation space.

The program highlights include a film that has already generated huge buzz: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” directed by Peter Jackson, the Oscar®-winning filmmaker of the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Jackson, who just wrapped production in New Zealand, is embarking on his own journey halfway around the world to greet fans, who are already counting down to the December 14th opening of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

Joining Jackson on the stage will be Oscar®-winning screenwriter Philippa Boyens, along with several of the film’s stars, including Martin Freeman, who portrays the title character, Bilbo Baggins; Richard Armitage, who plays the fierce leader of the Dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield; the legendary Sir Ian McKellen, who returns as Gandalf; and fan favorite Andy Serkis, the extraordinary talent who is truly behind the character of Gollum. Attendees will also be invited to ask questions about the making of this epic adventure.

The presentation also includes the DC Comics superhero who, inarguably, started it all. Superman will be back on the big screen next Summer in the much-anticipated action adventure “Man of Steel.” Filmmaker Zack Snyder, the director behind “300” and “Watchmen,” will be at Comic-Con and will take questions from the audience about the making of “Man of Steel,” which opens on June 14, 2013.

Photo courtesy of Geek Tyrant

Guillermo del Toro, the acclaimed writer/director of such films as “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the “Hellboy” films, will also be on hand with a preview of his science fiction action adventure, “Pacific Rim,” opening on July 12, 2013. The film’s stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman will join the director on stage for the presentation, which includes never-before-seen footage cut together exclusively for Comic-Con. Fans will also have an opportunity to engage in a Q & A with del Toro and his cast.

The WB booth will showcase static displays of the “Man of Steel” Superman costume, and Batman’s amazing two-wheeled Bat-Pod, which was introduced in the 2008 record-breaking blockbuster “The Dark Knight” and is featured again in this Summer’s most anticipated film, “The Dark Knight Rises.”

While the Warner Bros. booth will have something to see at every minute of every day of the convention, on Saturday, July 14th, it will be the place to be to meet and greet some of the stars and filmmakers from several of the Studio’s upcoming features. Some of the autograph signing opportunities include “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” stars Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Andy Serkis, from 11:15 a.m. to 12 noon; from “Pacific Rim,” stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman, and director Guillermo del Toro, from 3:55 to 4:55 p.m.; and “Man of Steel” director Zack Snyder from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. (Please note that times are approximate. Check your schedule and other announcements for updates.)

This pretty much sums it all up so make sure you don’t miss any of the presentations!

Check out more CCI coverage here with more pics from C Tan and Dr. Kronner over on our Tumblr!

Movie News & Opinions

CCI 2012: ‘Dredd’ – Early Reviews and Red Band Clips

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Lionsgate delivered a preview of the film at the Comic-Con yesterday, and with that we have some early reviews from critics. The word is out that Dredd is apparently pretty good with most critics giving the preview positive reviews. Below I have picked some of the critic reviews so far which I am happy to say sounds promising. Also this motion poster which scared me a bit the first time I saw it.

Dredd Mini Reviews

Collider: DREDD was a super hard R and a lot better than I thought it would be. Again….super hard R. 3D was also great.

CraveOnline: DREDD is like an ’80s Paul Verhoeven sci-fi movie with gratuitous bloody violence. I loved it.

TotalFilm: The body count is high, the humor grim and the violence stylishly graphic.

AMC: Think I just saw the most violent movie I’ve ever seen in my life!

Slashfilm: DREDD is a lot of fun. A return to 80s action, The Raid meets Robocop on a mini scale. great use of high fps slow mo 3d. Gritty & violent

Alexbigman: #dredd screening at #sdcc blew my mind… Best Dystopian movie since District 9…Gritty & Ultra Violent..#dystopian #cyberpunk A+ MOVIE

Ericvespe: Dredd was a lot of fun. Super violent and Karl Urban never once takes off the Judge helmet.

Jordan Hoffman: On a pop fascist level DREDD makes STARSHIP TROOPERS look like BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN #SDCC

Johncampea: Think I just saw the most violent movie I’ve ever seen in my life! #Dredd

tricialeighCK: So DREDD is hands down the most violent film I’ve ever seen in my life.

firstshowing: Dredd 3D – Uh yea, that was awesome. Badass, loved it. Yes, the helmet never comes off. Liked it more than The Raid, a lot more, honestly.

Ethan Andreton: DREDD is brutal, bloody and a bad ass blast of old school action. I was skeptical and ended up being highly entertained.

JYwofresh: Saw “Judge Dredd” it was amazing you won’t be let down go see it when it comes out in September 21!!!!!!

Empire Mini review

We’re delighted to say that it’s a solid, often excellent adaptation, and not at all Dreddful. (Sorry, had to do it.) Karl Urban is excellent as the grizzled gunslinger (and yes, the helmet stays on throughout, which will please fans of the comic no end), growling his lines like a man who’s just gritted his driveway using only his teeth, and the ultra-violence (which, in a way, may please fans while damaging its commercial chances) is presented stylishly. It has problems – it’s bound to suffer comparisons to The Raid, with which it shares a basic plot, but has little of the invention or pulsating pace of that movie’s fight scenes. It has a significantly smaller budget than the rest of this year’s comic book movie crop, and at times it shows. But it’s worth seeing for Urban alone, who erases any memories of the awful Sly Stallone vehicle from 1995.

Total Film Mini Review

Despite rumours of rifts during production, Garland and Travis have created a horribly gorgeous vision of dystopian future where monolithic housing towers are run by criminal gangs – and policing is undertaken by judge/jury/execution officers, Judges. Urban certainly has the downturned mouth and super-cool, gravelly delivery to pull off Dredd’s nonchalance but he’s aided by Garland’s smart, fast script, a relentless flow of Rorschach Test blood sprays from bone-shattering brutality, eye-poppingly beautiful 3D visuals and peppy banter with Thirlby. The body count is high, the humour grim and the violence stylishly graphic and reminiscent of Sin City (scenes involving a drug called Slo-Mo are visually intoxicating). 

There are many more I am sure but these are the only ones I can confirm watched the film at Comic-Con. So what we learn from these is that it’s a solid film with great action and a brilliant performance from its main cast, sounds very good. Second we know that it will be an R rated movie from comments such as ‘AMC: Think I just saw the most violent movie I’ve ever seen in my life!’ now from a film critic that is really saying something. Third is that people talking about comparisons between the raid which came out earlier this year have said that whilst the tower block and drug lord story has similarities they will stand apart in every other aspect of the film. That last part is sounding very promising.

Now enough about people talking, let’s watch Dredd shred bullets through people in the red band clip below:

What did you think of that clip? Those are very clever slow motion shots; I must admit that was beautiful shots coupled with brutal violence. Look at that jaw fly across the room like a candy wrapper caught in the wind. Dredd doesn’t seem to be in much of a mood for talking with what must be a lot of death sentences that I will be looking forward to in this film. But it wouldn’t be Dredd without them.

So finally what are your thoughts? Do you think it looks great? Can you not wait until the 21st September? Or are you still not impressed? (come on so many good reviews) Please comment below.

Check out more Comic-Con coverage here!

POP CULTURE

CCI 2012: Preview Night In Less Than 200 Words, With Pictures

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Believe it or not, San Diego Comic Con is here once again. Time flies by indeed. Now I feel as if I have wasted another year doing nothing. Shit, I feel sorry for myself. Now I’m gonna eat ice cream and feel even more sorry about myself. See? It’s a vicious cycle.

Preview Night happened yesterday and started off with some pilot preview screenings. They include 666 Park Ave, Arrow, The Following, Revolution, and Cult. Personally, I’m not a fan of this year’s pilot season, since there will be no police dramas. I watch cop shows and comedies exclusively.

Those privileged enough to be a part of Preview Night also had a chance to browse the show floor and buy merchandise before anyone else. Furthermore, they didn’t have to be stuck with a bunch of sweaty people during the weekends.

Anyways, here are some pictures we totally stole re-posted from other websites.

I wish I’m rich.

I wish I’m actually into motorbikes.

That looks affordable, compared to the two alternate options above.

Come at me, bro. (Yea, I know it’s a lame caption. Sue me.)

And I thought high heels were hard to walk around in.

Are those leggings or her actual legs? I’m going with the former. On second look, it is the former. I’m right!!!!!

You know you’re a messed up nerd when you look at this picture and the first thing that came to mind was, “Is that Zatanna?”

Screw Toyotas, that’s why.

Someone wrote a song titled Michael Knight. Just sayin…

Most of them are shadows of their former selves. Except for Chuck Norris. He is the former self of his shadow. Don’t ask me what that means.

I wonder if Tony Starks picks his suits like he picks his rides. (Again, a forced, corny caption.)

Photos taken from ComingSoon, Cinema Blend, and Marvel’s Facebook page.

Movie News & Opinions

The Dark Knight Rises – Behind the Scenes Featurette

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Well Dark Knight Rises fans have I got something for you, we now have an extensive behind the scenes featurette which included talks with Nolan, Bale, Hardy and pretty much everyone involved.  Then we have a butt load of behind the scene footage which thankfully gives no spoiler. This featurette is the best and most extensive look in to the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Please watch below and I hope you enjoy.

So what else do you really need to know for this film because this really did just talk about everything and most importantly didn’t give away anything away (not sure how that happened). The words action from start to finish really excited me, really! One part that shocked me was the sheer amount of scenes that weren’t CGI most amazing was the Bat was actually made for shooting and the football field that was to be blown up with an extra level of field, just spectacular.

Aww he’s not that bad, ok well Bane is evil. But Tom Hardy is a big kid.

Ok so let’s talk a little about bane in this, he says a couple more things which is always amazing plus we actually hear from Nolan that he thought Tom Hardy did a fantastic job of being Bane. This point is important as I can imagine it’s hard to get emotions and normal physical reactions when you have that mask covering his mouth and nose, all he can use is his eyes and I think he can do better acting with just his eyes than most actors can do in general.

Seriously no special effects there or in those riot shots.

So finally I think that this featurette cements my current view on this film. Christopher Nolan has never made a bad film. Every trailer to date for this film has shown an amazing film. The cast are all known and well tested actors. The visuals are a mixture of real shots and CGI which are in my opinion the best. “When Gotham is in ashes, you have my permission to die” That just gives me Goosebumps. Lastly this shows everyone’s passion for the film they have made which always gives me faith that the film won’t disappoint and will give the fans the end that this story deserves.

Movie Trailers

Looper: New Trailer Looks Amazing

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Nerd Alert! It’s a time travel film and it looks great. This latest trailer is going to make you wet yourself with excitement. This film for me came out of nowhere, and I liked that because it was pleasant surprise. Current Release date for Looper is the 28th of September.

It’s Bruce vs. young Bruce. Ok not exactly but that’s kind of the story and I love it, what I like mainly is that it’s surprisingly unique for a time travel film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt who always does well is exceeding himself in this trailer as a full on sci-fi action guy. Bruce Willis does what he does best in action films (hope he does as in ‘12 Monkeys’). Emily Blunt is a girlfriend or something; I think I saw her levitating a lighter in that trailer so that’s something. I have no idea here’s the plot.

In a futuristic gangland, a 25 year-old killer named Joseph Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) works for a Mafia company in Kansas City in the year 2042 as a “Looper”, where he kills and disposes of people who are sent by their employers known as “Gat Men” from their corporate headquarters in Shanghai from the year 2072. Loopers, like himself, are used as foot soldiers and are well paid on the terms that all hostages must never escape, including Loopers themselves. Gat Men are New York Accent-sounding men who are hired by a Southern Accented Godfather, who is portrayed by Jeff Daniels, who are being used as sentries, and each Gat Man has been given complete authority and responsibility in controlling their own group of Loopers. When one target arrives however he recognizes the 55 year-old victim (Willis) as himself and hesitates, allowing his older self to escape. The resulting failure of his job causes the Gat Men to come after him, forcing him to fight for his life as he hunts his older self.

The film combines strong corporate influences for dealing with criminal organizations, technology for the time-travel machine itself, as well as film noir, due to the film’s dark, gritty, and bloody plot.

Now we have some pictures as well to keep you happy till September