Category Archives: Movie News & Opinions

Transformers 4: A More Serious Approach on Mass Robot Mayhem

It would seem that Michael Bay may be seeing the error of his ways. I remember by the time that Revenge of the Fallen had found it’s way out of theaters that I would ask questions like- “Why do we need the human characters?” “Can we just have a movie with only Transformers in it?” “Why all the forced toilet humor?” And even though it seemed like Bay had started to tone it down a little and just focus on his craft of blowing shit up, Dark of the Moon still had that wasted human element to it. I liked the character of Sam Witwicky and think that Shia LaBoeuf is a great actor, but after three movies of the character, his parents and his girlfriends, I’m kind of ready for a Transformers movie just about…. Transformers. It seems like the movies are at least 70% CGI with the Autobots and Decepticons onscreen for the majority of the movie so why not just have a movie focusing on their war against one another? I don’t mind the human characters acting as support but I don’t need a lovesick kid running around trying to prove his self worth to everyone.

Now come reports that the next Tranformers movie will still indeed be a sequel to Dark of the Moon, but will feature less comedy and not so many human characters. Josh Duhamel has been pretty candid about the fact that neither himself nor any other actors have been contacted in regards to the fourth Tranformers movie, courtesy of E! Online:

“I don’t think anybody’s doing it,” Josh Duhamel told us last night at the launch party for Sony PlayStation’s new PS Vita portable entertainment system. “I know Shia [LaBoeuf]’s not doing it. I don’t think Tyrese or Rosie [Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it.”

“Whenever these movies make that much money they’re going to make as many as they can,” he said. “[But] I haven’t heard anything about it. They haven’t called me.”

 If there were human characters that I didn’t mind, it would have been the soldiers including those played by Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson because they were all business about killing Decepticons and not how their girlfriend thought about their socioeconomic status.

I’d love to see the Autobots engaging the Decepticons on different planets throughout the galaxy as they did on the cartoon and the Transformers animated movie in the 80’s. I honestly doubt that the budget would be affected by having less “real” shooting locations, especially with how much money the studio knows that it’s going to make off the franchise. They could make the fourth movie about Optimus Prime trying to find his inner human whilst also looking for a female Transformer to settle down with and the movie would still gross almost a billion dollars worldwide. We can only hope that Michael Bay remains serious about toning down the cheesiness and five year old humor in his Transformer movies until the movie is finished. Am I expecting some sort of Academy Award winning performance from Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime? No. Nor am I looking for a deadly serious movie with the complexity of something like Inception because we all know that Transformers is a popcorn summer action flick. Just give us something true to the Transformers mythos and we’ll be happy.

John Carter Sequel Already in the Works: Too Soo

As it goes with many of Hollywood’s potential blockbuster films, Disney hopes to make John Carter (of Mars) a very successful trilogy that will fill up their coffers even more. After the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise took off and started murdering box office records, Disney began developing new movies to add similar success to their name as Pirates and even National Treasure. Tron: Legacy was one of those movies, which despite underperforming for Disney is still on it’s way to sequel-dom. Prince of Persia didn’t fair so well and will more than likely not garner a sequel.

Continue reading John Carter Sequel Already in the Works: Too Soo

Star Trek 2 Set Photos: Benedict Cumberbatch!

So here’s a couple of quick little glimpses of Benedict Cumberbatch on the set of Star Trek 2, as he is playing the new supposed mystery villain in the forthcoming (And eagerly anticipated) sci-fi sequel. But then again maybe it won’t be such a mystery once his name is revealed. I’m sure some mindless Trekkies will blurt out a dozen theories about which character he is supposed to be from the old show. Check out the first picture with Cumberbatch feeling the wrath of the Vulcan Death Grip:

Our next photo shows him being held at phaser point by the beautiful Zoe Saldana who plays Uhura in the new Trek films:

One can only hope that we’ll soon have a trailer for this bad lad. 2009’s Star Trek was by far one of the best movies that year. It re-invigorated that franchise and brought in tons of new fans, myself included. I always hated Star Trek, but absolutely loved the new one. Not to mention Benedict Cumberbatch from BBC’s Sherlock is in it to play the newest villain. I’ve not watched any of Sherlock, but Dr. Kronner talks like he would totally make out with Buttercup Cumberbatch because the show is so amazingly awesome. I’m sure in the coming days more and more set photos will begin hitting the web and eventually plot details. Stay tuned for more info as we get it!

Die Hard 5: The Hunt for the Son of McClane Ends!

Out of all the names being tossed around to play the Holy role of the son of John McLane in the latest Die Hard movie, I was hardly expecting that it would be…. Jai Courtney. Puzzled by the name? Me too. The face however is certainly familiar as Jai Courtney played the role of Varro on Starz Movie Channel’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Varro as you may or may not know was the best friend of Spartacus on the show and the two were indeed an enjoyable duo to watch. It will be hard to see Courtney without his trademark blonde curls that he had in the show, (not to mention the accent.) but I’m sure he’ll be better off without them as he is firing multiple rounds into bad guys side by side with Bruce Willis.

Here’s an official confirmation of the story from the forthcoming A Good Day to Die Hard from Fox:

[box_light]”A Good Day to Die Hard puts McClane on an international stage — truly a NYC fish out of water in Moscow — and introduces his estranged son Jack. An apple that has not fallen far from the tree, Jack may even be more of a hardass than his father. Despite their differences, they must work together to keep each other alive — and the world safe for democracy.” [/box_light]

This sounds good to me as long as Justin Long stays out of the picture this round. I wouldn’t mind another cameo from Kevin Smith and even one from Mary Elizabeth Winestead though. The plot I’m sure will turn out to be a little more in depth as production gets rolling, but at this point there is excitement enough that movie is now going to be on the fast track into theaters. And it’s needless to say that Jai Courtney has an opportunity to send his career into the stratosphere with this gig. After all he is starring next to one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood for the past twenty years and one of the best, if not THE best action movie franchise. Now all that is needed is a villain…

Let’s hear some comments below! Not what anyone was expecting or better that a relatively unknown actor will be playing the role of Jack McClane? (Or will it be Gennaro?)

In the Blood: Gina Carano to star in ‘Miss-Taken’. Get It? No? Whatever.

First, I have not seen Haywire, so I do not know how good Gina Carano translates to the big screen, but people seem to like her. Secondly, I think it’s ridiculous, but someone ordered an action script from the writers of Dumb & Dumber. Third off, John Stockwell, the director of this movie, just loves tropical vacation environments. Put these three together, and you have the next action movie starring the next big thing Gina Carano – likely in a bikini.

Continue reading In the Blood: Gina Carano to star in ‘Miss-Taken’. Get It? No? Whatever.

Live-action TMNT Movie Gets ‘Battle: Los Angeles’ Director Attached

GammaSquad via Variety is reporting that the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie may be getting a director soon. Jonathan Liebesman, director of Battle: LA and the upcoming Wrath of the Titans, is negotiating right now to take the helm of the franchise. The film is using a script from the Iron Man writing team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, but Paramount and Nickelodeon have employed the Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol team of Josh Appelbaum and Andrew Nemec to rewrite.

“I am totally available to reprise that role.”

Now that we got all that stuff out-of-the-way, here’s what we know about this movie: It’s a live action movie that wants to emulate Rise of the Planet of the Apes and use CGI characters replacing a motion captured actor in a practical environment. The Foot will be present (hopefully they won’t just gather and get their asses kicked methodically, oh wait, it’s the Foot, of course they will), and April O’Neil and Casey Jones will most likely be involved so that Kronner can yell “Casey Jones” anytime that new actor comes on in any other movie, a privilege normally reserved for Elias Koteas. [F–k Yeah!] 

No word if Vanilla Ice will jump on board. I personally think this movie should not exist until ‘Keno’ gets involved. My boy needs work, and with Linsanity happening, I think Ernie Reyes can be your next superstar. I mean, did you NOT see Surf Ninjas? Actually don’t. It seriously does not stand the test of time. Nor did it stand the test of time when it came out. I did not know any better as a 10-year-old…

TMNT, Eddie Reyes, Surf Ninjas
“Let’s surf and eat pizza!!! God the 90s were awesome. Now where did I leave my roller-blades and Spin Doctors cassettes? Oh – is that a Laser Disc of REALITY BITES?”